NIA raids 14 locations in Tamil Nadu as part of its war on Islamic terror
Chennai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday conducted 'searches' at the residences of 14 arrested accused persons in Ansarulla case in multiple locations, including Chennai.
“Searches were conducted at five locations in Ramanthapuram district, two locations in Theni district and one location each in Chennai City, Tirunelveli City, Madurai City, Tanjavur district, Perambalur district, Nagapattinam district and Thiruvarur district”, said a NIA statement.
It said the premises raided belonged to the accused, who were arrested already, namely Mohamed Ibrahim (A-4), Mohamed Sheik Maitheen (A-5), Meeran Ghani (A-6), Gulam Nabi Asath (A-7), Ahamed Azarudhen (A-8), Toufiq Ahmed (A-9), Mohamed Ibrahim (A-10), Mohammed Afzar (A-11), Rafi Ahamed (A-12), Munthasir (A-13), Umar Barook (A-14), Mohideen Seeni Shahul Hameed (A-15), Faizal Sharief (A-16) and Farook (A-17).
During the raids, one laptop, seven mobile phones, five SIM cards, three memory cards, one hard disk drive, nine CDs/DVDs and about 50 documents were seized. They would be submitted before the special court for NIA cases in Chennai and the digital devices would be subjected to cyber forensic examination, NIA said.
It recalled that the probe into the Ansarulla case in which 16 persons have been arrested so far, attracted various penal sections such as conspiracy against the Indian Government and indulging in terror activities, besides collecting funds and recruiting people for carrying out the terror strikes in the country “with the intention of establishing Islamic rule in India”.
“…based on credible information that the accused persons and their associates, owing allegiance to the proscribed terrorist organizations ISIS/ Daish, AL Qaida and Students Islamic Movement of India
(SIMI), while being within and beyond India, had conspired and made preparations to wage war against the Government of India by forming the terrorist gang Ansarulla”, the NIA statement said, adding that the accused persons and their associates “have also been disseminating videos and other jihadi propaganda material exhorting their supporters to conduct terrorist attacks through various methods including the use of explosives, poison, knives and vehicles, as means of attack”.
