KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday arrested nine Al-Qaeda operatives during the raids conducted at multiple locations in Murshidabad, West Bengal and Ernakulam, Kerala. Six were held from Murshidabad while three were arrested from Ernakulam.

The NIA team conducted the raids on Saturday early morning and picked the terrorists associated with Pakistan sponsored module of Al-Qaeda.

Terrorists arrested from Ernakulam are Murshid Hasan, Iyakub Biswas and Mosaraf Hossen. They were picked from Mudikkal near Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district where they have been staying among migrant workers. According to reports they have been working in the area for long.

The arrested terrorists will be produced before the concerned Courts in Kerala and West Bengal for police custody and further investigation.

According to the press release by the NIA, the agency had learnt about an inter-state module of Al-Qaeda operatives at various locations in India including West-Bengal and Kerala. The group was planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital installations in India with an aim to kill innocent people and strike terror in their minds. Accordingly, NIA registered a case and initiated investigation.

Large quantity of incriminating materials, including digital devices, documents, jihadi literature, sharp weapons, country-made firearms, a locally fabricated body armour, articles and literature used for making home-made explosive devices have been seized from their possession.

As per preliminary investigation, these individuals were radicalised by Pakistan-based Al-Qaeda terrorists on social media and were motivated to undertake attacks at multiple places including capital city. For this purpose, the module was actively indulging in fund raising and a few members of gang were planning to travel to New Delhi to procure arms and ammunition. These arrests have pre-empted possible terrorist attacks in various parts of the country.

Those arrested from West Bengal are Najmus Sakib, Abu Sufiyan,  Mainul Mondal,  Leu Yean Ahmed, Al Mamun Kamal and Atitur Rehman.