'Ansarulla' terror module case: NIA conducts searches across TN

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at 14 locations in Tamil Nadu on Saturday as part of its probe into the 'Ansarulla' terror module case, officials said.

Agency sleuths conducted searches at the residences of the 14 people arrested in the case after they were deported from Saudi Arabia.

The searches were conducted at five locations in Ramanathapuram district, two in Theni and one each in Chennai, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur districts, the NIA said in a release.

"During the searches, a laptop, seven mobile phones, five SIM cards, three memory cards, one hard disk drive, two pen drives, one internet dongle, nine CDs/DVDs and about 50 documents have been seized," the agency said.

The seized items would be submitted before a special court for NIA cases here and the digital devices would be sent for cyber forensic examination.

The NIA said the case was registered based on credible information that the accused, owing allegiance to terrorist organisations ISIS, al Qaeda and SIMI, while being within and beyond India, had conspired and made preparations to wage war against the government by forming the terror outfit '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 the country, it said.

They have been "actively recruiting" individuals to strike terror in India and have also been disseminating videos and other 'jihadi' propaganda material exhorting supporters to conduct terrorist attacks through various methods, including the use of explosives, poison, knives and vehicles, as means of attack, it said.

The NIA has arrested total 16 people in connection with the case.

The searches come a day after a special NIA court had granted the probe agency eight-day custody of the 16 arrested.

The NIA had said the agency needed to take the accused to various places to verify the evidence collected against them during the investigation.

While 14 accused were arrested after they were deported from Saudi Arabia last week for allegedly attempting to set up the terror outfit in Tamil Nadu, the other two had been picked up from the state last Saturday.