Raids an extension of last year’s probe into IS activities, says NIA

Speculation surrounding the detention of two Kolhapur siblings by the NIA as part of the crackdown on modules linked to the IS triggered a mob attack on the duo’s office in Hupari. A police team had to be deployed outside their residence and office to prevent trouble from escalating. The brothers, who have been jointly running a foundation in the district for around three years, were released in the evening but could be called again for questioning, the NIA said.
Besides Kolhapur, the NIA also searched premises belonging to suspects in Nanded district of the state.
In UP’s Deoband, Darul Uloom vice-chancellor Abul Qasim Nomani confirmed that a student was picked up from the hostel early Sunday, taken to Saharanpur and grilled for around eight hours before being allowed to go. The student, who is from Karnataka, apparently came under the scanner because of his suspicious social media activity. The NIA also scanned his cellphone and laptop, an officer said.
On March 14, the state anti-terrorism squad had arrested 20-year-old madrassa student Inamul Haq in Deoband for his alleged link with the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. Inamul came to the seminary from Jharkhand's Giridih in 2019 to study and become a cleric, sources said.
In Bhopal, the two youths detained by the NIA were identified as Mohammed Anas and Zuber Khan, both in their early 20s. One of them has a madrassa background while the other is a graduate from MP’s capital city. Both were allegedly active on social media platforms known for IS propaganda, although neither is known to have a criminal record. “They are being questioned to find out the extent of their involvement, if any, in any anti-national activity. The only thing we know as of now is they were in online touch with various radical outfits. We have confiscated their mobile phones,” a source said.
NIA teams deputed to search premises belonging to suspects in Gujarat's Surat, Navsari, Bharuch and Rajkot brought in for questioning three men suspected to have links with IS recruiter Jufri Jawhar Damudi, alias Abu Hajir al-Badri, from Karnataka. The agency arrested Damudi at Bhatkal in Uttar Kannada district on August 6 last year in the “ISIS-Voice of Hind” case.
“The NIA found out that 12 people were in contact with al-Badri. Of these, three are from Gujarat,” an official said. “We are questioning the trio specifically to find out if that particular ISIS module had been planning any targeted attack.”
One of the detained men had shifted from Ahmedabad to Navsari in south Gujarat eight months ago. His accommodation was among the buildings that were searched.
Based on the probe so far, the NIA has found out that al-Badri had been seeking funds from young men he had radicalised through regular contact via Telegram and other social media platforms. He allegedly even goaded some of them into sourcing weapons and publicising IS’ activities in India with videos showing violence, including beheadings.
In Bihar, the NIA focused on Arariya district, while Karnataka saw raids on premises belonging to suspected IS collaborators or sympathisers in Bhatkal and Tumkur.
The NIA tweeted that the countrywide raids were an extension of the probe that started into activities of IS following a suo motu case registered just over a month ago. The charges include promoting enmity between different groups and words spoken or written against national integration, besides various terror offences under the UAPA.