NIA chargesheets four people for ISIS links from Tamil Nadu and Telangana

NEW DELHI: The NIA today filed a charge sheet against four people for allegedly organising training camps and mobilising funds on behalf of terror group ISIS in Tamil Nadu and Telangana, officials said here.

The agency filed the charge sheet against Haja Fakkurudhen, a Singapore citizen of Indian origin, Khaja Moideen, Shakul Hameed and Ansar Meeran under various sections of Indian Penal Code and anti-terror UAPA law, the officials said.

The NIA has accused them of allegedly promoting activities of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or Daesh, hatching a criminal conspiracy and forming a terrorist gang that raised and received funds, organised camps, recruited and trained some people besides facilitating their travel to Syria to join the ISIS.

The case was registered by the NIA in January last year following a directive from the Home Ministry to investigate information that eight people from Tamil Nadu and one from Telangana were allegedly indulging in furthering the activities of the ISIS in the country.

The NIA claimed that the prime accused, Fakkurudeen, had organised and attended several conspiracy meetings in India with his associates for raising funds and to recruit people.

He had subsequently joined the ISIS in Syria along with his family during the last week of January, 2014 and was featured in a propaganda video released by the terrorist organisation on social media websites in December, 2016.

Fakkurudeen had visited Chennai three times in as many months in late 2013 and held conspiracy meetings at Chennai, Keelakarai in Ramanathapuram district and Parangipettai in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu besides in Bangalore, along with co-accused Khaja Moideen, Shakul Hameed, Ansar Meeran and Mohammed Thabraze.

With the intention of recruiting the other accused people to ISIS, Fakkurudeen had last visited India in December 2013 along with his family and had then left for Turkey on January 22, 2014, before crossing over to Syria and joining the Islamic State.

The NIA alleged that Khaja Moideen, Shakul Hameed and Ansar Meeran had knowingly and wilfully assisted Fakkurudeen in joining the ISIS in Syria in January, 2014.

In pursuance of the criminal conspiracy, Shakul Hameed had later radicalised and recruited Abu Thahir to the ISIS and travelled along with him to Turkey during August, 2015 with the intention of joining the terror group.

The roles of accused Masood Asarudeen, Sadiq Basha and Noman Jameel besides that of suspects identified during the investigation were being looked into, the NIA said.