Kozhikode: The state has become a hatchery of many hardcore terrorists operating in international arena. Once they are caught on the radar of intelligence agencies, they shift their operations to other countries, including Bangladesh, Dubai, Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to sources.
The most wanted among the Islamic terror operatives from the state is Mohammed Sabir alias K.P. Sabir alias Ayub, who now controls the terror -linked fake currency cartel operating from Peshawar in Pakistan. A native of Kannur, Sabir was one of the conspirators in the plot to murder former chief minister E.K. Nayanar. His links with the international terror cartel was exposed after the Bangalore serial blasts in 2008. He escaped to Pakistan befooling the intelligence agencies on a fake passport. Sabir, former president of the now banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), has been operating from Pakistan since then.
The scaled up vigil against terror modules in Gulf countries in recent times resulted in an exodus of such shadowy personalities to Pakistan which is a haven for anti- India terror modules.
In April, the UAE deported K.A. Anoop, an alleged associate of Sabir. A perusal of his mobile calls from Dubai revealed that Sabir was in close contact with Anoop. Though Sabir had made an attempt to take his wife from Kannur to Pakistan using a fake passport, the attempt was thwarted by security agencies, according to sources.
Another two IM operatives wanted in terror -linked cases in the state-- Shoaib from Kannur and Shuhaib from Parappanangadi--who were operating from Gulf countries earlier, are believed to have joined the IS crossing to Syria.
Another key player in international terror cartels, Lashkar-e-Toiba southern commander Thadiyantavide Nazeer aka Ummer Haji, was arrested from Bangladesh in 2008. He was on the run after the attack against the Indian Institute of Space Science (IISC), Bangalore, in 2005. A native of Kannur, Nazeer was living in Bangladesh. He shifted operations out of state after being named along with Sabir in hatching a conspiracy to kill Mr Nayanar in 1999. Another suspected LeT commandant Ibrahim Moulavi aka Usthad hailing from Vellamunda in Wayanad was arrested by security agencies earlier from Karnataka. Trained in Pakistan, he had allegedly played a key role in recruiting youth from the state for jihad in Kashmir leading to the killing of four youths from the state in Kupwara in Kashmir in an encounter with security agencies in 2008.
