Two suspected members of ISIS held in Bengaluru

PTI, Oct 8, 2020, 6:21 PM IST

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency has arrested two suspected members of the city-based ISIS module, which was allegedly involved in radicalisation of youth and funding their trip to Syria to join the terror outfit.

Ahamed Abdul Cader (40), hailing from Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu and Irfan Nasir (33) from Frazer town here were arrested by the NIA sleuths on Wednesday.

The NIA action comes weeks after the agency busted the terror module with the arrest of a doctor here. In continuing with the investigation, the sleuths conducted searches on the premises of Cader and Nasir in Gurappana Palya and Frazer town and recovered incriminating material and electronic devices from their possession.

While Cader is a business analyst in a bank in Chennai, Nasir is a rice merchant here, the NIA said in a statement. The duo was produced before Special NIA Court here, which granted 10 days custody to the agency for interrogation.

During the investigation of a case taken up by the NIA on September 19, certain incriminating facts emerged about a Bengaluru-based ISIS module, the agency said. It got a lead with the arrest of a doctor in Bengaluru.

During his examination, names of those who had travelled to Syria in 2013-14 to join ISIS surfaced. “Further investigations resulted in busting of a module wherein it was revealed that Cader, Nasir and their associates were members of Hizb-ut-Tehrir.

They had formed a group called ‘Quran Circle,’ which radicalised gullible Muslim youth in Bengaluru and funded their visit to conflict zone in Syria to aid and assist the ISIS terrorists,” the NIA said.

The NIA also stated that they had played a very significant role in radicalisation of the members of the group and arranged funds through donations and own sources for visit of the doctor and other Muslim youth from Bengaluru to Syria to join ISIS.

“Two such youth got killed in Syria,” the NIA claimed. “Further investigation in the case is continued to unearth the larger conspiracy,” the NIA said.