NIA arrests two in Tamil Nadu in terror gang case

After carrying out searches on the premises of three people in Tamil Nadu, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday (July 14) morning arrested two persons in Nagapattinam for their alleged links to the ‘Ansarulla’ terror gang.

On Saturday (July 13) morning, based on the first information report(FIR) filed by the NIA, Delhi, the agency sleuths raided the premises of three men — Syed Bukhari, a resident of Chennai, Hassan Ali Yunusmaricar and Mohammed Yusuffudeen Harish Mohamed of Nagapattinam.

Based on a tip-off, the three are said to have conspired and prepared to wage war against central government, while within and outside India. The NIA registered a case against them on various charges including Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on July 9.

“It has also been learnt that the accused persons and their associates had collected funds and made preparations to carry out terrorist attacks in India, with the intention of establishing Islamic rule in India,” a release from the NIA read.

In the searchers carried out on Saturday, the NIA seized nine mobile phones, 15 SIM cards, seven memory cards, three laptops, five hard discs, six pen drives, two tablets and three DVDs.

On completing the raid, the NIA questioned the three for hours, and after more than 10 hours of inquiry, on Sunday, the agency formally arrested two in Nagapattinam. The seizures revealed incriminating facts to prove their links to the ‘Ansarulla’ terror gang.

The NIA will produce them before the Poonamallee special court for NIA cases in Chennai.