NIA busts ISIS module in TN, Karnataka; arrests 2

Chennai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two persons from Tamilnadu and Karnataka in connection with the Islamic State case.

Ahamed Abdul Cader, 40, from Ramanathpuram and Irfan Nasir, 33, from Frazer town in Bengaluru were arrested by the agency after their names cropped up during investigations in caseS related to the Islamic State.

While Cader is said to be a business analyst at a bank in Chennai, Irfan Nasir is a rice merchant based in Bengaluru.

In a statement, NIA said it has arrested the two “for having affiliation with the banned terrorist organization ISIS/ISIL/Daesh and for entering into a conspiracy to radicalize and motivate Muslim youth of Bengaluru to join ISIS, and for raising funds to facilitate their travel to Syria”.

NIA further said that the names of the duo surfaced during its probe into the March 2020 arrest of Kashmir residents Hina Bashir Beg (39) and her husband Jahanzaib Sami (36) from Jamia Nagar in Delhi.

The two had been arrested by Delhi police on suspicion of being associated with Islamic State and organising anti-CAA protests in Delhi. Later NIA had taken their custody in connection with its probe into an IS terror conspiracy involving Hyderabad youth Abdullah Basith.

During this probe, one Dr Abdur Rahman alias Dr Brave from Bengaluru, was arrested. Rahman, an ophthalmologist based in the city was arrested as part of an investigation into a case registered in March against the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) module, for allegedly working briefly with the Islamic State in Syria in 2014.

“During his examination, names of his associates surfaced who had travelled to Syria in 2013-2014 to join ISIS. Further investigation resulted in busting of a module wherein it was revealed that accused Ahamed Abdul Cader, Irfan Nasir and their associates were members of Hizb-ut-Tehrir. They had formed a group called ‘Quran Circle’ which radicalised gullible Muslim youth in Bengaluru and funded their visit to conflict zone in Syria to aid and assist the ISIS terrorists,” the agency said.

NIA said Cader and Nasir arranged funds through various sources, including through “donations and own sources” Rahman’s visit to Syria. They similarly funded several other youth. “Two of such youth got killed in Syria,” NIA added.