The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday raided multiple locations in Coimbatore and seized mobile phones, memory cards, laptops and other documents after six-hour-long searches. These searches comes two months after the NIA had similarly raided several locations in Coimbatore following suspected pro-ISIS activities in the city.
As per a press release issued by the NIA, the searches, that started around 5.30 am on Thursday, were conducted in five locations in and around Ukkadam and Kuniyamuthur in Coimbatore. Around 20 officers from the NIA were part of the search team. The searches were conducted based on the warrants used by the NIA Special Court in Ernakulam.
“…During searches today at the houses of five associates of the accused persons, digital devices including one laptop, five mobile phones, four SIM cards, one memory card, and eight CDs/ DVDs a large number of incriminating documents have been seized,” read the press statement. It also said that the seized items will be subjected to forensic examination. The statement added that the suspects who were living at the locations searched on Thursday are being questioned over their links with the persons who are already in NIA custody.
The NIA had, in June, arrested two men from Coimbatore for pro-ISIS activities, after conducting searches in seven locations across the city. While Sheik Hidayathullah (38) was arrested for his association with the terrorist organization Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Mohammed Azaruddin (32) was arrested for running a Facebook page called ‘KhilafahGFX’ through which he had allegedly been ‘propagating ISIS/Daish ideology’. Azaruddin was also Facebook friends with Zahran Hashim, a suicide bomber and the mastermind behind the Easter bomb blasts in Sri Lanka.
Thursday’s searches come at a time a high alert has been sounded in the city for suspected terrorist movements. Last week, a high alert was sounded across the city after the city police received intelligence inputs about terrorist infiltration into Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka.