An absconding Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS) terrorist from Kerala was arrested for planning terror attacks in our country. Siyed Nabeel Ahammed was caught by the Fugitive Tracking Team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Ahammed is the Ameer (leader) of the terrorist group ISIS module based out of Thrissur district in Kerala.
He was arrested in Chennai while trying to escape to Nepal. The ISIS group led by Ahammed planned to carry out terrorist attacks in Thrissur and nearby districts, including Palakkad.
Hindupost reported how, in an investigation conducted by the NIA, some terrorists related to the case were arrested in July. Ahammed immediately went into hiding. The NIA has been trying to trace the terrorist for weeks, but there was no information about him. Now, after a decisive move, Ahammed was arrested in Chennai.
Ahammed attempted to enter Nepal and was arrested while preparing documents for an escape. The NIA seized forged travel documents. Social media messages promoting terrorism, passports, mobile phones, and other digital devices were also seized. All these are being examined in detail. The NIA officials informed that people who helped Syed stay in hiding in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and those who made fake documents to allow him to travel abroad are connected to ISIS.
The Thrissur-based ISIS group had been planning to carry out terrorist actions in Kerala, according to investigators. Practice runs had been undertaken for this by their cadre, and they had raised money to carry out their terrorist schemes. According to the NIA, ISIS has increased its operations in India by establishing branches in several states and recruiting vulnerable young Islamists who support the Jihadi ideology.
The NIA had earlier arrested another native of Thrissur in a case of extorting money to join ISIS. Ashif alias Mathilakath Kodayil Ashraf, a native of Thrissur district, was caught by the NIA team from Sathyamangalam forest in Tamil Nadu. He testified that he had committed massive robberies to finance terrorism. From questioning him, information related to planning a terrorist attack in Kerala was obtained. With this, the investigation started. The NIA stated that Ahammed had crossed from Kerala and moved from one hide-out to another in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Central agencies recently discovered that the group was involved in robbery and gold smuggling in Kerala. It was found that they recruited people to the theft gang by creating a group called ‘Pet Lovers’ on Telegram. After stealing Rs 30 lakh from Palakkad, Ashif and his terrorist unit members hid in a house in the Sathyamangalam forest. NIA caught the accused from inside the forest.
Ahammed has been charged in a murder case registered in Kochi earlier. The terror suspect was produced before the Ernakulam special court at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday and remanded until September 12. The accused was remanded after a special sitting was held despite the fact that it was a holiday.
