Daijiworld Media Network - Chennai (SHP)
Chennai, Jul 16: In a special flight on Monday, 14 people who were deported from the United Arab Emirates and later arrested by the National Investigation Agency for their alleged association to a terror group, were flown from New Delhi to Chennai.
The men were presented before an NIA court which granted their custody to the agency. It was found that they were from different parts of Tamil Nadu; Chennai, Tirunelveli, Theni, Nagapattinam and Ramanathapuram. They have been identified as members of Wahdat-e-Islami Hind, a religious organisation in Tamil Nadu. NIA received credible inputs which established their alleged association with the terror group, 'Ansarulla'.
On Saturday, the NIA searched the premises belonging to few individuals in connection to its investigation into activities of Ansarulla. One of the houses that was searched belonged to Syed Bukhari, president of Wahdat-e-Islami Hind. Following which, on Sunday, the NIA arrested Hassan Ali Yunusmaricar and Harish Mohammed, both from Nagapattinam. Concerning the arrest, NIA stated that the arrest was based on incriminating facts revealed during searches and subsequent investigations. Along with Bukhari, the two other men arrested were accused in an NIA case registered on July 9 against Ansarulla.
The Wahdat-e-Islami Hind has always publicized itself as a religious organisation with no connection to radical Islam. The organisation was established in 2009 in Chennai and always maintained that it was never associated to the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
A case was then registered against Bukhari and his associates following the probe. In a statement made by NIA, it was stated that the charge placed against them was under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 'Based on credible information received the accused people, while being within and beyond India, have conspired and conducted consequent preparations to wage war against the Government of India by forming the terrorist gang Ansarulla'.
The NIA claimed that Bukhari and his associates were collecting funds to launch a terrorist attack in India, with an intention to establish an Islamic rule in India.
In the search conducted on Saturday, nine mobile phones, 15 SIM cards, seven memory cards, three laptops, five hard disks, six pen drives, two tablets and three CDs/DVDs, and other documents including magazines, banners, notices, posters and books were seized.