NIA arrested Islamic State terror suspect near Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested an ISIS terror suspect in Mayiladuthurai on Thursday night. He was wanted for a criminal conspiracy in 2018, allegedly aimed at a few leaders in Coimbatore.

The suspect who was identified as A Mohammed Ashiq, ageing around 25 years, was nabbed in Needur near Mayiladuthurai on Thursday. He allegedly swore allegiance to the terror organisation Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2018 and was wanted as a prime suspect for plotting to kill a few leaders in Coimbatore.

According to NIA sources, a group of seven people from different parts of Tamil Nadu formed a group in Coimbatore and swore allegiance to the terrorist organisation ‘ISIS’. They conspired to kill leaders based in Coimbatore, thereby threatening the communal harmony and the security and sovereignty of the country.

The NIA arrested the group and booked them at NIA Police Station in New Delhi in September 2018. Mohammed Ashiq, a native of Marakkadai in Coimbatore, was named the prime suspect in the case. The charges included unlawful assembly (IPC 143), criminal conspiracy (IPC 120B) and several sections under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

The trial was initiated in the Special Court for NIA Cases in Poonamallee in Chennai and was underway in 2019. Mohammed Ashiq was allegedly released on bail. However, he failed to appear at the following hearings. The Special Court had, therefore, initiated a nonbailable warrant against him.

According to police sources, Mohammed Ashiq came to Mayiladuthurai months ago. He was working in a broiler shop in Needur, a village where the Islamic population are a majority near Mayiladuthurai, as ‘incognito’.

The NIA had received information about Mohammed Ashiq’s whereabouts and approached Mayiladuthurai District Police for assistance. A team of NIA officials, accompanied by the local police personnel, raided the broiler shop and arrested Mohammed Ashiq around 9 pm on Thursday.

The NIA investigated Mohammed Ashiq briefly and took him to Chennai. The police said that he is likely to be produced in NIA Special Court again.

Source: New Indian Express