NIA raids at 10 locations in Tamil Nadu in terror funding case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday carried out raids at different locations in connection with a case where some people were allegedly raising funds to wage armed struggle against the State.

"The agency conducted searches at properties belonging to Muthupet, Keelakarai, Devipattinam, Lalpet, and Salem. The case relates to a group of ten persons from different parts of Tamil Nadu who had formed a WhatsApp group named 'Shahdat Is Our Goal'," NIA said in a release on Monday.

"In 2018, they conspired together to procure arms for their terrorist gang, to raise funds to wage armed struggle, to facilitate the escape of terrorists from jail and to propagate their ideology, to act against the State," said the agency.

During the raid, the agency has seized a number of digital devices including three laptops, three hard discs, 16 mobile phones, eight SIM cards, two pen drives, five memory cards, and one card reader, besides two knives and a number of incriminating documents.

According to NIA, the case was initially registered on in April 2018 at Keelakarai Police Station of Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu under Sections 153A, 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 15(1)(c) r/w 17, 18, 19 and 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.

The police had also registered a case under Section 25(1) (a) of the Arms Act 1959 against ten accused, out of which nine were arrested earlier. One accused is still absconding. However, nine arrested accused were released on bail by the court.