NIA raids Srinagar house of suspect in connection with ISIS Kerala module case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday carried out raids in Srinagar in connection with ISIS Kerala module case.

The NIA team assisted by J&K police and CPRF searched the residence of Uzair Azhar Bhat at Karfalli Mohalla area of old city Srinagar in the wee hours of Monday.

A spokesperson of the anti-terror probe agency said that in 2021, the NIA started investigations into Mohammed Ameen alias Abu Yahya of Kadannamanna, Mallapuram (Kerala), “who had been running various ISIS propaganda channels on social media platforms - Telegram, Hoop and Instagram.

“Through these channels, he was propagating violent Jihadi ideologies of ISIS and was radicalizing and recruiting new members to this ISIS module. He and his associates had even identified certain individuals for targeted killings. They had also made plans to undertake Hijrah (migration) to Jammu & Kashmir for engaging in terrorist acts and had raised funds from various sources for this trip,” he said.

During the NIA probe, it was found that Ameen was in touch with Deepthi Marla of Kerala, a converted Muslim, married to Anas Abdul Rahiman of Mangalore.

“In 2015, she had gone to Dubai to pursue studies where she met Mizha Siddeeque and both women developed an inclination towards ISIS. In 2019, they tried to do Hijrah to Khorasan and reached Tehran, Iran. After reaching Tehran, their contact with ISIS operatives based in Khorasan could not be established,” the NIA spokesperson said.

He said both of them returned to India, and Deepthi got in touch with Ameen, Obaid Hamid Matta, Madesh Shankar @ Abdullah and others and made plans to undertake Hijrah to ISIS administered territory. “In January 2020, Deepthi went to Srinagar to meet Obaid to plan the Hijrah and stayed in Srinagar for one week,” the spokesperson said.

The house of one of the common contacts between Deepthi and Obaid was Uzair Bhat, who is suspected to have been part of the conspiracy. “The NIA raided his house today and during the search digital devices were seized. Further investigations are in progress,” the NIA statement said.