Youth held for IS links now in judicial custody

A youth held by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Coimbatore on Wednesday was produced before an NIA court in Kochi on Thursday and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.

Mohammed Azharuddin, 32, who was found to be having links with the accused in the Easter day bombing in Sri Lanka, was said to be planning terror strikes at worship centres in Kerala and Tamilnadu as well as to recruit more persons to the IS.

Various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, including section 18-A for recruiting of persons to terrorist activities and 39 for support for terrorist organisations, were invoked against him. The NIA would be seeking his custody for further investigation.

The NIA had earlier registered a case against Mohammed and five others on charges of recruiting youths to IS and spreading IS messages.

Sources say that the NIA had said in the remand report that Mohammed, who was the leader of IS module of the southern region, was planning terror strikes in Tamilnadu and Kerala, along with Riyaz Aboobacker of Palakkad and some others in Kerala.

Riyaz, who was earlier held by the NIA, had revealed the plans for terror strikes at worship centres in Kerala. Both Mohammed and Riyaz were also members of social media groups in which Sri Lankan terror strike mastermind Zahran Hashim was an active member. Mohammed was maintaining the social media group KhilafahGFX through which he spread IS messages and attracted youths.

NIA hopes to get information regarding youths attracted to the terror outfit by quizzing Mohammed and examining the electronic gadgets seized during the raids in Coimbatore. Five others are also being quizzed by the NIA.