Chennai: A diabolical plot by the ISIS terror outfit to kill top Hindu leaders in Tamil Nadu was blunted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) carrying out multiple raids on Wednesday on the houses of seven terror suspects already under detention. Special teams of the NIA had arrived from Delhi to carry out the searches in three places in Chennai and four in Coimbatore leading to seizure of a large number of digital devices, including mobile phones, SIM cards, CDs/DVDs containing religious speeches and pen-drives, besides cash and publications with inflammatory content, sources said.
They said the Wednesday action followed ‘specific intelligence inputs’ coming out of the questioning of the seven men arrested in Coimbatore early September when they had assembled in connection with the conspiracy to kill Hindu leaders, including Hindu Makkal Katchi founder-president Arjun Sampath and Sakthi Sena Organisation head Anbu Mani.
The case against the seven was originally registered by the TN police at the Variety Hall police station in Coimbatore and was transferred to the NIA in October considering the serious nature of the conspiracy and the suspected tentacles in the conspiracy.
Arjun Sampath had recently appeared before the NIA at Race Course in Coimbatore and gave details of the threat phone calls and other evidence to show his life has been under serious threat. The NIA raids on Wednesday began early morning and were carried out with the local police assisting the teams from Delhi. The raids were carried out in the suspects’ houses at Pallavaram, Otteri and Vyasarpadi in Chennai, besides places in Coimbatore and Tindivanam, sources said. They said S Ismail (25), arrested at Coimbatore on September 2 lived at Tindivanam and he had been actively working for the ISIS and acting as a network for information on social media.
