Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 22 (IANS): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted searches at seven locations in Kerala in connection with an ongoing case linking proscribed Syria-based terrorist organisation Jund Al Aqsa.

The raids were conducted in Kerala's Thrissur and Kozhikode districts in connection with the fugitive accused belonging to Jund Al Aqsa.

The houses searched were of Mohammed Faaz, Mohammed Ihthisham, Abdul Sameeh, Rayees Rehiman, Nabeel Mohammed, Mohamed Shaheen and Mohammed Ameer.

During searches, the national anti-terror agency seized nine mobile phones, fifteen SIM cards, one iPad, six laptops, three memory cards and various documents.

The case was originally registered suo motu by NIA on January 9 last year under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against six accused persons -- Hashir Mohammed, Sidhikul Akbar, Muhammed Irfan, Thaha Mohammed, Sultan Abdulla, and Fayez Farooq.

The NIA said that the accused, while being in Qatar, had conspired from 2013 onwards and conducted preparations or travelled to Syria and joined the proscribed terrorist organizations Jund Al Aqsa or Jabhat Al Nusrah.

The NIA investigation has revealed that Faaz, Ihthisham, Sameeh, Rehiman, Nabeel Mohammed, Shaheen and Ameer, while being in Qatar till early 2019, were in contact with Akbar and had provided funds to fugitives, based in Syria.