The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at seven locations in Thrissur and Kozhikode districts in connection with the fugitive accused belonging to the proscribed terrorist organisation Jund Al Aqsa believed to be based in Syria.
NIA teams searched the houses of Mohammed Faaz, Mohammed Ihthisham, Abdul Sameeh, Rayees Rehiman, Nabeel Mohammed, Mohamed Shaheen, and Mohammed Ameer.
According to the agency, the case was originally registered suo-motu by NIA in January 2019 against six accused persons namely Hashir Mohammed, native of Ernakulam district; Sidhikul Akbar, native of Malappuram; Muhammed Irfan, native of Kannur; Thaha Mohammed, native of Shimoga district, Karnataka; Sultan Abdulla, native of Kozhikode and Fayez Farooq, native of Thrissur.
All the six who were in Qatar had conspired from 2013 onwards, conducted preparations or travelled to Syria and joined the Jund AL Aqsa or Jabhat AL Nusrah.
NIA claimed that investigation had revealed that Mohammed Faaz, Mohammed Ihthisham, Abdul Sameeh, Rayees Rehiman, Nabeel Mohammed, Mohammed Shaheen and Mohammed Ameer, were in contact with the accused Sidhikul Akbar till early-2019 and had provided funds to the fugitive based in Syria.
A communication issued by NIA said nine mobile phones, fifteen SIM cards, one iPad, six laptops, three memory cards and various documents had been seized in the search operation. Further investigation in the case is continuing, it added.
