NIA raids houses of 7 ISIS-linked men for targeting Hindu leaders

The raids were conducted at Otteri in Chennai, Tindivanam near Villupuram, Kuniyamuthur, Ukkadam, and Variety Hall Road in Coimbatore district between 6.45 am to 8.30 am.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday carried out an early morning raid on the houses of seven persons in various parts of Tamil Nadu for their alleged links with the terrorist group ISIS.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday carried out an early morning raid on the houses of seven persons in various parts of Tamil Nadu for their alleged links with the terrorist group ISIS. (HT PHOTO)

The raids were conducted at Otteri in Chennai, Tindivanam near Villupuram, Kuniyamuthur, Ukkadam, and Variety Hall Road in Coimbatore district between 6.45 am to 8.30 am.

Last September, the NIA had arrested the seven accused: Ismail, Ashiq, Salaudin, Samsudeen, Jaffer Siddique, Anwar and Faizal on charges of conspiring to murder Hindu outfit leaders like Arjun Sampath (of Hindu Makkal Katchi) and Anbu Mari (of Shakti Sena).

During enquiry, the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Tamil Nadu CB-CID found out that they had connections with the ISIS movement.

Following this, the Union home ministry has ordered the NIA to probe the case. From inputs collected from the accused, the NIA suspects that the seven could have conspired to target more Hindu outfit leaders in the state. Hence, they conducted the searches, said an official familiar with the development.

NIA is also probing the murder of C Sasikumar, a Coimbatore-based spokesperson of Hindu Munnani, an organisation that has been lobbying for the rights of Hindus and fighting against alleged forced conversions.