Chennai: Shakul Hammed, a 25-year-old youth from Chennai who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), had been under the scanner of the central agency for more than two years now. He was picked up from his residence in the city at around 2 30 pm.
A resident of SS Puram in Otteri near Perambur, Shakul Hammed has a bacherlor’s degree in business administration from a City college and dropped out of MBA in 2014. It is during this time, Shakul Hammed is said to have involved with persons in the state who vowed to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
His father Mohammed Zackariya who is a tailor had filed a missing complaint with the local police after Shakul Hammed went absconding for a long time, according to police sources. After his arrest on Monday, his family members cried foul and claimed that he had returned recently after a work-related trip from Dubai.
Shakul Hammed’s arrest is based on inputs provided by Khaja Mohideen of Cuddalore district who is also among the nine persons the NIA accused of being deported from Turkey in 2015 when they attempted to migrate to the ISIS controlled territory in Syria.
Khaja Moideen, now lodged in Salem prison, is believed to have masterminded the murder of KP Suresh Kumar, a Hindu Munnani activist, in 2014 in Chennai. NIA officials are planning to seek custody of Khaja Moideen for further investigations.
Khaja Moideen and Shakul Hammed were among the people who met Haja Fakrudeen, a Singapore national of Indian origin who joined ISIS in January 2014 along with his family. Haja had met the duo in early 2014 with intentions to recruit more persons for ISIS. Shakul Hammed will be produced before the NIA special court in Poonamalee, NIA officials said.
