NIA arrests 14 people suspected of setting up terror group in Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: In a major crackdown on a new radical Islamic outfit based in Tamil Nadu, NIA on Monday arrested 14 more persons associated with the group ‘Ansarulla’ purportedly planning terrorist attacks in the country with the intention of “establishing Islamic rule”. Two other accused named in the FIR filed by NIA on July 9, Hassan Ali and Harish Mohamed, were arrested on Sunday following searches at their residences in Nagapattinam.
The third accused figuring in the FIR, Syed Mohammed Bukhari — whose residence and office in Chennai was also raided on Saturday — is among the 14 arrested on Monday.Those arrested are largely from the area in and around Chennai/Nagapattinam.
‘Ansarulla’ is possibly one of the largest modules subscribing to radical Islam and jihadi ideology with “the aim of establishing the supremacy of Sharia law in India”, to be busted in a single state. Earlier in 2016, NIA had cracked down on a pan-India, IS-inspired module comprising around two dozen operatives across several states. More recently in September 2018, NIA busted another IS-inspired module based in Delhi and UP, arresting 10 persons who were “at an advanced stage of preparation for carrying out terror attacks in Delhi NCR region”.
NIA had on July 9 registered a case against three identified accused and others based on information that the group was planning to strike terror in the country, for which they had collected funds and made preparations. “The group’s intention was to strike at the democratic institutions of India with the intention of establishing the supremacy of Sharia law,” an officer told TOI.
As for the ideological linkages of Ansarulla to a known jihadi outfit like the Islamic State, an officer said the same shall be established after forensically examining the documents and computer resources recovered during the searches and questioning the arrested accused.
During searches on Saturday at premises of three accused, NIA had recovered 9 mobiles, 15 SIM cards, 7 memory cards, 3 laptops, 5 hard discs, 6 pen drives, 2 tablets and 3 CDs/ DVDs besides documents including magazines, banners, notices, posters and books.
The busting of new radical Islamic groups in Tamil Nadu, particularly those inspired by Islamic State, over the past couple of months is a cause for concern for the security agencies, considering the traction that Islamic State could manage to get among radical elements in neighbouring Sri Lanka, which ultimately led to the Easter Sunday attacks. While any linkage between Tamil Nadu-based groups and National Thowheed Jamaath, the outfit suspected behind Easter Sunday attacks, are yet to be established, agencies are actively tracking individuals and groups subscribing to the same ideology in southern India as a pre-emptive measure.