NIA arrests chief of Thrissur-based ISIS module in Chennai

NIA arrests ISIS Thrissur module leader in Chennai. Suspect was on the run, preparing to flee using forged documents. NIA seized incriminating documents and digital devices. Module had planned terror acts in Kerala, conducted dry run and raised funds. Fugitive Tracking Team on trail of more absconding suspects.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), on Wednesday, September 6, 2023 arrested Siyed Nabeel Ahammed, the leader (Ameer) of the terrorist organisation ISIS’s Thrissur-based module, in Chennai.

Ahammed was allegedly on the run, moving from one hide-out to another across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and was picked up by the NIA’s Fugitive Tracking Team. He was preparing to flee the country using forged travel documents with Nepal as a transit point, the central agency said.

NIA’s team was working on the group, following specific inputs for several weeks, before finally zeroing-in on the suspect in Chennai.

Incriminating documents and digital devices were seized from Ahammed, who has been named as an accused person in a Kochi case by the NIA.

In July this year, the agency had tracked and arrested Ashif alias Mathilakath Kodayil Ashraf from his hideout near Sathyamangalam in Tamil Nadu. After registering a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, investigators found that the Thrissur-based IS module had been conspiring to commit terror acts in Kerala. Their cadre had even conducted a dry run for this purpose, and had raised funds to execute their plans.

The NIA said the IS had intensified its activities in India by establishing modules in various States, and recruiting youth who owed allegiance to the Jihadi ideology.

Asked about the details of Ahammed’s terror plans, an NIA official said his involvement was already established in a terror case, and he was named the third accused person in that case. More details on the Thrissur module’s plans would be known during the course of the investigation.