Two persons were detained by the NIA at Thiruvananthapuram international airport on Monday in view of suspected extremist links and involvement in a blast case in Bengaluru. Both were being deported from Riyadh.
The reports that the two were suspected to have links with the Bengaluru blast case were not confirmed.
According to sources, Gul Navaz, a native of Uttar Pradesh, and Shuhail, who hails from Kannur in Kerala, were detained on their arrival by evening.
Both, aged around 30, were returning after a jail term in Riyadh. The two were quizzed by the NIA at the airport and later detained.
Gul Navaz was in Saudi Arabia since 2008 and was suspected to be involved in a hawala case registered by the NIA in Delhi in 2017 with regard to terror funding by Laskar-e-Taiba through Gulf countries.
Suhail was wanted in a case pertaining to ISIS recruitment case in Kerala.
The detention of two came close on the heels of NIA taking into custody three West Bengal natives with Al-Qaeda links from Kochi.
The state intelligence wings had also stepped up vigil especially among the huge population of migrant workers in the state.
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