9 hours ago
NIA arrests four more in Tamil Nadu ISIS radicalisation, recruitment case
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested four more persons in the Tamil Nadu ISIS radicalisation and recruitment case involving Coimbatore-based Kovai Arabic College.
With this, NIA has made eight arrests in the case, which is an off-shoot of the Coimbatore car bomb blast case.
The arrested have been identified as Ahmed Ali of Thirumarai Nagar at Podanur, Jawahar Sathik of Pullukkadu housing unit near Ukkadam, Raja Abdullah alias 'Mac' Raja, and Sheik Dawood.
According to the NIA, the four men had been radicalised by Jameel Basha, the founder of Madras Arabic College, who, along with his associates, was involved in recruiting gullible youth and subtly infusing Salafi -Jihadi ideology into them, in the guise of imparting Arabic language classes in Tamil Nadu.
NIA had earlier arrested and charge-sheeted Basha, his associates Irshath, Syed Abdur Rahman and Mohammed Hussain, who had been using the classrooms and social platforms to carry out their anti-national radicalisation and recruitment activities, the agency stated in a release.
NIA investigations revealed that the accused had promoted Khilafat ideology and martyrdom through jihad, advocating violence and armed struggle to establish an Islamic state, after removing the democratically-elected government, it stated.
According to the agency, the radicalisation and recruitment activities had led to the Coimbatore car bomb blast in October 2022, in which the suicide bomber Jamesha Mubeen carried out a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack in front of Sangameswarar temple in Coimbatore.
The agency added that it was continuing with its investigation in the Tamil Nadu ISIS radicalisation and recruitment case as part of its efforts to check radical terror activities against the nation.
