NIA searches 7 Kerala sites in Syria terror trail

NEW DELHI:

The National Investigation Agency

on Tuesday searched seven locations in Thrissur and Kozhikode districts of Kerala in connection with a case relating to a fugitive who is said to have joined proscribed terrorist organisation Jund Al Aqsa and is believed to be in Syria. The houses searched belong to seven Keralites who, while being in Qatar till early-2019, were in contact with accused fugitive Sidhikul Akbar and had provided him funds.


The seven Keralites are Mohammed Faaz,

Mohammed Ihthisham

, Abdul Sameeh, Rayees Rehiman, Nabeel Mohammed, Mohamed Shaheen and Mohammed Ameer. During searches, nine mobile phones, 15 SIM cards, one iPad, six laptops, three memory cards and various documents were seized from their homes.

The relevant case was originally registered suo-motu by NIA on January 9, 2019 against six accused persons namely Hashir Mohammed, native of

Ernakulam district

, Kerala; Sidhikul Akbar, native of Malappuram district, Kerala;

Muhammed Irfan

, native of Kannur district, Kerala; Thaha Mohammed, native of Shimoga district, Karnataka; Sultan Abdulla native of Kozhikode district, Kerala and Fayez Farooq, native of Thrissur district, Kerala, who all, while being in Qatar had conspired from 2013 onwards, conducted preparations or travelled to Syria and joined the proscribed terrorist outfits Jund Al Aqsa or Jabhat AL Nusrah.

NIA said that investigation had revealed that Mohammed Faaz, Mohammed Ihthisham, Abdul Sameeh, Rayees Rehiman, Nabeel Mohammed, Mohammed Shaheen and Mohammed Ameer, while being in Qatar till early-2019, were in contact with the accused Sidhikul Akbar and had provided funds to the fugitive based in Syria.