E-Paper
NIA arrests 5 in Kerala over alleged IS links
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Three months after the mysterious disappearance of 21 people from north Kerala, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday apprehended
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Three months after the mysterious disappearance of 21 people from north Kerala, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday apprehended five persons from Kannur for their alleged link with extremist outfit Islamic State.
Intelligence sources said a tip-off came after questioning of the suspected IS recruits arrested from Hyderabad a couple of months ago. At least eight persons were put under the scanner and the NIA tailed them for almost two months.
The team raided their hideout near Panur with the help of Kerala Police.
Three persons slipped out of the dragnet and efforts are on to locate them, sources said.
However, it was not known whether they have some links with the 21 people suspected to have joined the Islamic State.
Sources said they were planning to activate some of the sleeper cells of the banned SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) and to hatch a conspiracy to target some well-known personalities of south India. Two of the arrested are from Tamil Nadu.
In July, Hyderabad police had arrested two key IS suspects, Yasir Niamatullah and Athahulla Rehman, the latter alleged to be the main fund-raiser of the IS module in south India.
After questioning them, police busted a gang of five who were preparing improvised explosive devices for carrying out blasts in various parts of the country. Three months back, 21 people, including six women and two children, had gone missing from the state.
CUSTODY OF 16 IS MEN EXTENDED
A special court in New Delhi has extended till October 25 the judicial custody of 16 suspected IS operatives, arrested from across the country on charges of recruiting and financing people to join the terror outfit. District Judge Amar Nath passed the order after he was informed by the NIA that it has supplied copies of deficit documents, including statements of protected witnesses in the case, to the accused, sources said.
