NIA launches multi-city searches in Tamil Nadu, Telangana over suspected terror module case

The raids were conducted in 22 locations in Coimbatore, three in Chennai, one in Kadayanallur of Tenkasi district in Tamil Nadu, and five locations in Telangana.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday raided 31 locations across Tamil Nadu and Telangana in connection with the car blast outside the Kottai Eswaran Temple in Coimbatore on the eve of Deepavali in 2022. Several incriminating books in vernacular and Arabic languages and cash in INR and USD were also seized.

The raids are part of the NIA’s crackdown on the radicalisation and recruitment campaign and plans of ISIS. In a statement, the NIA said it is in the process of examining data contained in the mobile phones, laptops and hard discs seized during the raids conducted on Saturday. Rs 60 lakhs and $18,200 were also seized.

The raids were conducted in 22 locations in Coimbatore, three in Chennai and one in Kadayanallur of Tenkasi district in Tamil Nadu, and five locations in Telangana.

The NIA said the radicalisation was being carried out while holding Arabic language classes conducted through their Regional Study Centers and they were flashed online through social media platforms and mobile applications like WhatsApp and Telegram.

“NIA investigations have revealed that the ISIS-inspired agent provocateurs were engaged in the propagation of Khilafat ideology, which is inimical to India’s constitutionally established principles of secularism and democracy. The group of persons involved in the case had entered into a conspiracy to radicalise and recruit youth who were later found involved in terrorist as well as unlawful acts and activities,” the statement said.

One such terror attack was the car blast outside the Kottai Eswaran Temple on October 23. Jameesha Mubin, a 29-year-old engineering graduate, was killed when one of the LPG cylinders in his Maruti 800 exploded just yards away from the temple. Police suspect that Mubin stopped the car after seeing them on duty near the temple and the vehicle exploded minutes later.

The agency said investigations in the case are ongoing. NIA took over the probe a week after the blast, in which FIR says 109 articles, including Potassium Nitrate, Black Powder, matchbox, cracker fuse length of about 2 meters, Nitro Glycerine, PET powder, Aluminium powder, and 9-volt battery, were recovered from Mubin’s residence.

Materials like packing tape, hand gloves, and notebooks with details of Islamic ideology and details about ‘jihad’ were also recovered, the NIA had said.