NIA arrests absconding leader of ISIS Thrissur module from Chennai

The ISIS Thrissur module’s fugitive head was apprehended by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday in Chennai, thwarting his attempts to exit the country. The NIA’s Fugitive Tracking Team, which had been working on the ground for the previous few weeks to follow Siyed Nabeel Ahammed, was able to capture him. He was the leader (Ameer) of the Thrissur-based ISIS Module.

The accused, who had been on the run and hiding out in various locations throughout Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for the previous few weeks, intended to flee to another country using falsified and fraudulent passports, utilizing Nepal as a transit country.

Incriminating documents and digital devices have been seized from the possession of Siyed Nabeel, who is the third accused to be arrested in the case since July. In July this year, NIA had tracked and arrested one Ashif alias Mathilakath Kodayil Ashraf from his hideout near Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu.

The NIA, which had registered the case on July 11 this year based on credible information under various sections of IPC and UA(P) Act, has found that the Thrissur-based IS module had been conspiring to commit terror acts in Kerala. It had been conducting recces for this purpose, and had also been raising funds for furthering ISIS activities by committing a series of illegal activities, including dacoities, in the State.

“ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) is a transnational militant Islamist terrorist group that is also known as Islamic State (IS) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as well as by its Arabic acronym Da’ish or Daesh. The organisation has intensified its activities in India by positioning modules in various States and actively recruiting motivated youth who subscribe to its jihadist philosophy,” NIA said.

The NIA has cracked down on these modules in a big way and has arrested several IS members and cadres operating across states to thwart the proscribed organisation’s terror agenda.