NIA arrests man for terror plot in Kerala

Kochi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday recorded the arrest of Riyas Aboobacker of Palakkad on charge of conspiring to commit a terrorist act in state.  NIA sleuths interrogated five persons at its office here to trace the roots of Islamic State (IS) in Kerala following the raids carried out on two residences in Kasargod and Palakkad on Sunday.

During the interrogation, Aboobacker disclosed that he wanted to carry out a ‘suicide attack’ in Kerala.

He also admitted that he has been keeping online contact with the absconding accused Rashid Abdulla for a long time and has been following his audio clips including the one which he had circulated on social media platforms urging to carry out terror attacks in India, a press release issued by the NIA said.

He added he was also in touch with Abdul Khayoom, accused in the Valapattnam ISIS case who is believed to be in Syria. He further disclosed that he has been following the speeches of Zahran Hashim, the alleged mastermind behind Sri Lanka blasts for more than a year. 

The accused will be produced before the NIA Court here on Wednesday. Earlier in the day,  the NIA sleuths interrogated five persons at its office here. The current investigation is part of the case on the migration of 15 people from Kasargod to Afghanistan and Syria where they had allegedly joined the IS. According to sources, Aboobacker, Ahamed Arafat of Kaliyangad and Aboobacker Siddique of Nainmarmoola, whose residences were raided by the NIA team, were interrogated.

They also said that two other youths also reached the NIA office to give their statements as part of the IS case. During the searches, a number of digital devices, including mobile phones, SIM cards, memory cards, pen drives, diaries with handwritten notes in Arabic and Malayalam, DVDs of preacher Dr Zakir Naik besides untitled DVDs, CDs with religious speeches and books of Dr Naik and Syed Kutheb were seized from their residences.