Chennai: Of the 13 people arrested for their alleged ISIS links by the NIA in the last week of January during a nationwide operation, two turned out be from Tamil Nadu with their roots in Gumudipoondi near Chennai and Coimbatore, intelligence sources from Delhi disclosed.
The two from Tamil Nadu were identified as Asif Ali alias Arman Saani, 21, native of Ukkadam, Coimbatore and Mohammed Abdul Ahad, alias Suliaman, 46, from Gumudipoondi, Thiruvallur. Both of them were arrested in Bengaluru on January 23. The 13 men held by NIA were part of the group that set up Junood Ul Kilafa Fil Hind – the Indian arm of ISIS with a Syrian handler who was closely monitoring and funding them –with branches across the nation including in Chennai, sources in Delhi said. According to their plans, the Junood Ul Kilafa Fil Hind wanted to set up bases in Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Allahabad, West Bengal, Hyderabad and Gujarat besides Chennai.
The outfit is believed to have identified explosive experts and contacts to procure guns including AK 47s. The Indian security agencies, including IB and NIA had been trailing the group in the virtual world for many weeks before swooping down on them in Bengaluru, Tumkur, Mangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Lucknow on January 22. Asif Ali, had reportedly left Coimbatore to Bengaluru with his parents after finishing his plus 2 in Coimbatore and now working in a IT firm there.
Abul Ahad, who had graduated from a Chennai college, is working in Bengaluru but his family members are back in Gumudipoondi, sources added. The two men were part of the bigger network of ISIS sympathisers, lured by internet dossiers and handled by a man named Yusuf alias ‘Gumnam’, believed to be an Indian operating from Syria.
All the arrested persons were well versed with internet and computers besides latest communication tools and apps. “A majority of those arrested were found to be committed to the ideology of ISIS and the concept of bringing the world under its caliphate. Though they were based in different locations, they met in Lucknow a couple of months ago. Those who participated in that meet were given different tasks. A man from Hyderabad was found to be an expert in explosive making, which he reportedly learnt from internet links sent by IS handler in Syria.
Commandants alias Amirs for different functions – finance, communications, media, operations – were also decided in the meeting,” sources added. The NIA sleuths are looking for more members of the group, which floated Junood Ul Kilafa Fil Hind, the Indian arm of ISIS. The ISIS sympathisers were also found to be well versed with dark web and Tor, software for anonymous communication. Before the arrest of the two men from TN in Bengaluru, the NIA in December last had arrested a Chennai youth who was working in Dubai and deported to Delhi from Sudan after he was allegedly found trying to establish contact with IS handlers to go to Libya.
