NIA arrests 4 men in Tamil Nadu for promoting armed struggle to establish Islamic state

New Delhi,: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested four more accused in Tamil Nadu as part of its probe against radical elements involved in promoting armed struggle to establish an Islamic state, officials said.

The accused persons identified as Ahmed Ali, Jawahar Sathik, Raja Abdullah alias MAC Raja and Sheik Dawood had been radicalised by Jameel Basha, the founder of Madras Arabic College, who, along with his associates, was involved in recruiting gullible youth and subtly infused Salafi-Jihadi ideology to them in the guise of imparting Arabic language classes in Tamil Nadu, according to an official statement.

The NIA had earlier arrested and chargesheeted Basha and his associates Irshath, Syed Abdur Rahman and Mohammed Hussain, who were using the classrooms and social platform to carry out their anti-national radicalisation and recruitment activities, it said.

"NIA investigations have revealed that the accused had promoted Khilafat ideology and martyrdom through jihad, advocating violence and armed struggle to establish an Islamic state after removing the democratically elected government," said the statement issued by the probe agency.

The radicalisation and recruitment activities had led to the Coimbatore car bomb blast in October 2022, in which the suicide bomber Jamesha Mubeen carried out a vehicle-borne IED attack in front of an ancient temple, it said.

The NIA is continuing with its investigation in the case as part of its efforts to check radical terror activities against the nation, the statement said.