The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested four persons allegedly associated with an Islamic State-inspired module, following searches in Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir in coordination with Central intelligence agencies and local police.
The accused have been identified as Obaid Hamid, a resident of Srinagar; Muzammil Hassan Bhat, a resident of Bandipora; Ammar Abdul Rahman from Mangaluru; and Shankar Venkatesh Perumal alias Ali Muaviya, a resident Bengaluru. They were involved in raising funds, radicalising and motivating others to join the Islamic State, the agency said.
During the searches earlier, the four accused were detained along with a woman from Mangaluru. It was alleged that she had attempted to travel to Afghanistan.
The module was unearthed about a year ago when the intelligence agencies came across an Instagram channel named “Chronicle Foundation”, comprising more than 5,000 persons from different parts of the world, which had allegedly been indulging in Islamic State-related propaganda. The agencies gradually established the identities of several members of the module. As it turned out, some associated members were planning to visit Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, while some had even made unsuccessful attempts to travel to Afghanistan via Iran in April 2019.
The alleged leader of the module, identified as Mohammed Ameen, intended to travel to Pakistan and J&K to join terror groups. Some suspects were also involved in raising funds and even transferring a portion to entities operating in J&K.
