NIA raids houses of duo arrested in TN cop’s murder

National Investigating Agency (NIA) sleuths Monday raided the houses of Abdul Shamim and Thoufik, arrested for the murder of special sub-inspector Y Wilson in Kanyakumari, in both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The houses of Abdul Hameed, Jaffer Ali and Khaja Mohideen, who had links with Wilson's killers, have also been raided.

Among the places raided in Tamil Nadu are Kayalpattinam near Tiruchendur in Thoothukudi district, Cuddalore, Neyveli and Melpattampakkam, while the sleuths raided about 15 locations in Bengaluru and Kolar.

In January, Karnataka police arrested Abdul Shameem (32) and Thoufiq (28) at the Udupi railway station. Both men are natives of Nagercoil and belong to an Islamist outfit. Shameem is an accused in the murder of a Hindu outfit leader in Chennai.

A statement from Tamil Nadu police said both men had escaped to Udupi from Kanyakumari after Wilson’s murder on January 8.

On January 21, the NIA had also registered cases against 10 people, four of them from Bengaluru, under various sections of the IPC and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. They were accused of conspiring with ISIS/Daesh member Khaja Moideen with an intention of carrying out unlawful activities and committing terrorist acts in India.

The men were also accused of procuring arms to further the objectives of the proscribed organisations. Moideen is a native of Parangipettai in Cuddalore district.

During the searches in Tamil Nadu, the NIA seized nearly 16 SIM cards and 2 internet dongles, besides documents and books.

The sleuths in Karnataka recovered nine mobile phones, five SIM cards, one laptop, two hard disks, four CDs/DVDs, 18 books, an auto-rickshaw and explosive materials.

The recovered items have been produced before the magistrate courts in Chennai and Bengaluru, following which they are being dispatched to the forensic laboratory for further examination.

"The case pertains to a criminal conspiracy with an objective of murdering Hindu Leaders, creating communal riots and doing anti-national activities by forming a terrorist gang, being inspired by ISIS, a proscribed terrorist organisation,” the release said.

It further added that the terrorist gang held meetings in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to propagate the ISIS ideology. Besides, the gang also procured arms and ammunition and other incriminating materials to execute their plans.

"In this connection, Sudduguntepalya police station case No 10/2020 was registered on January 10, 2020, under various sections of the IPC and sections 13, 18 & 20 of the Unlaw Activities Prevention Act which was re-registered by NIA,” the release said.

“In this case, five accused men namely Mehaboob Pasha, Mohammed Mansoor Ali Khan, Saleem Khan, Zabiulla, Syed Azmathulla were arrested earlier and other accused are absconding,” the statement further said.