The Kochi unit of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday filed two chargesheets before the NIA special court in Kochi against eight people from Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the case relating to a secret meeting by the Kerala-based IS module (Omar Al-Hindi ISIS module) at Kanakamala in Kannur.
The first chargesheet has arraigned seven people, identified as Manseed Mehmood, 30, of Kannur; Swalih Mohammed, 26 of Thrissur, Rashid Ali, 24 of Coimbatore, Ramshad N. K, 24, of Kozhikode, Safvan P, 30 of Malappuram, Jasim N. K, 25 of Kozhikode; and Shajeer Mangalassery, 35 of Kozhikode. Except for Shajeer Mangalassery, who migrated to Afghanistan to join the IS in June last year, all the other accused are currently in judicial custody.
The seven have been booked for offences under IPC Sections 120 B, 121, 122 and 125, in addition to Sections 17, 18, 18B, 20 , 38, 39 and 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Meanwhile, a separate chargesheet has been filed against Subahani Haja Moideen of Thirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, who had left India between April and September in 2015 to join IS in Iraq and waged war against the Asiatic nation. After returning to India, he attempted to procure explosives and precursor chemicals for waging war against the country.
“Members of the module, within and outside India, used online social media platforms the Facebook and, predominantly,Telegram, in which various secret groups were formed for conspiring and planning the terrorist attacks. The accused had tried to radicalise and recruit their friends or associates into the module and had also collected funds for the terrorist organization,” the agency said, in an official statement
The agency rushed with the chargesheets to prevent the accused persons of being released on bail as their 180 days of judicial custody is slated to end on March 31.
The agency has exempted seven persons, including Moinudheen, who had been arrested from Dubai last month, from the chargeheet. Further, Mohammed Fiaz, one of the accused, has turned an approver in the case and he was granted tender of pardon by the NIA court.
The NIA in October last year busted a secret meeting of the IS module named Ansarul Khilafa at Kanakamala in Kannur. A follow-up investigation has established that the accused prepared to target prominent persons, including judges of High Court, political leaders, senior police officers and foreigners on visit to India.
