Ansarulla terror case: NIA conducts searches at 14 locations in Tamil Nadu

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday carried out search operations at 14 locations across Tamil Nadu as part of the investigation in the Ansarulla terror case.

A press release by the NIA read, "On July 20, NIA conducted searches at the residences of 14 arrested accused persons in this case, namely Mohamed Ibrahim, Mohamed Sheik Maitheen, Meeran Ghani, Gulam Nabi Asath, Ahamed Azarudhen, Toufiq Ahmed, Mohamed Ibrahim, Mohammed Afzar, Rafi Ahamed, Munthasir, Umar Barook, Mohideen Seeni Shahul Hameed, Faizal Sharief and Farook. Searches were conducted at five locations in Ramanthapuram district, two locations in Theni district and one location each in Chennai city, Tirunelveli city, Madurai city, Tanjavur district, Perambalur district, Nagapattinam district and Thiruvarur district."

The NIA had previously registered case against the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Unlawful Activities Prevention (UAP) Act, "based on credible information that the accused persons and their associates, owing allegiance to the proscribed terrorist organizations ISIS or Daish, Al Qaida and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), while being within and beyond India, had conspired and made preparations to wage war against the Government of India by forming the terrorist gang Ansarulla."

"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," the release added.

During the searches, one laptop, seven mobiles, five SIM cards, three memory cards, one hard disk drive, two pen drives, one internet dongle, nine DVDs and about 50 documents were seized by the NIA.

The seized material will be submitted before the Special Court for NIA Cases, Chennai, and the digital devices will be subjected to cyber forensic examination.

The agency has arrested 16 people so far in the case from different districts of Tamil Nadu.

On Friday, a special NIA Court in Chennai granted eight days custody to the accused for interrogation.

A case was registered on July 9 against 16 accused and their associates under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and UA (P) Act, based on credible information received by the NIA.