At least five persons were arrested yesterday by Indian counter-terrorism units after simultaneous raids on a half dozen extremist Islamist group locations in Chennai and central Tamil Nadu suspected to have links with the Sri Lankan Islamist terror faction that carried out the Easter Sunday attacks. Reports from India said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) yesterday carried out the raids on locations in Chennai and Nagapattinam.
The city offices of the ‘Wahdathe Islami Hind’ at Mannady and Vepery (in Chennai) were searched by teams probing Indian-based links of the Sri Lankan ‘National Thowheed Jama’ath’ group that launched the Easter bombings. Three persons are being questioned in connection with the raids, sources told News Today.
According to sources, the Wahdathe Islami Hind has its headquarters in Uttar Pradesh and branches in Mannady and Vepery-Poonamalle Road.
“Raids began at 6 am at Lingi Chetty Street, Mannady. Following this, two persons, identified as Nizamudeen and Usman, who are said to be managing the centre, were taken in for investigation. Around the same time, an NIA team also took into custody Sayyed Mohammed Buhari, the State head of the organistaion. His office, which is in an apartment complex on Vepery-Poonamallee Road, was raided as well,” sources were quoted saying.
NIA officers claimed that the group had contact with some other banned Islamic organisations. They are also inquiring if they were in touch with the perpetrators of the Easter Day blasts which killed 259 people and left 1,000 injured.At Nagapattinam, the team raided places in Sikkal and Manjakollai and took two persons for inquiry. They were identified as Hassan Ali and Haris Mohammed. The NIA team is also probing if they were plotting to murder Hindu leaders.
Based on the Central government’s directive, the NIA is on a pan-India operation to interdict any Islamic State (IS) support groups, the media reports said. Investigations revealed that the terrorists involved in the Sri Lanka blasts have had connections with groups in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. They allegedly visited both States often and roamed freely. The NIA claims that the Wahdathe Islami Hind had an association with other banned Islamist outfits.
On 12 June, the NIA had conducted raids at seven locations in Coimbatore in connection with an ISIS module case. And in May, NIA sleuths conducted raids at a house in Kattumannarkoil, Chidambaram. India Today