Four More Arrested By NIA In Tamil Nadu ISIS Radicalisation And Recruitment Case

In a significant development in its ongoing probe into the Tamil Nadu ISIS Radicalisation and Recruitment case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday (18 June) has apprehended four additional suspects, taking the total number of arrests in the case to eight.

This case is an offshoot of the 2022 Coimbatore car bomb blast investigation, which exposed an alleged network of extremist indoctrination operating under the guise of religious education.

The individuals arrested — Ahmed Ali, Jawahar Sathik, Raja Abdullah (alias MAC Raja), and Sheik Dawood were reportedly radicalised by Jameel Basha, the founder of the Madras Arabic College.

According to the NIA statement, Basha and his associates used Arabic language classes as a front to subtly disseminate Salafi-Jihadi ideology among impressionable youth in Tamil Nadu.

A raid was carried out at the Arabic college in Kuniyamuthur, where investigators allegedly uncovered documents promoting Islamic State ideology.

Earlier, the agency had charge-sheeted Basha along with Irshath, Syed Abdur Rahman, and Mohammed Hussain, who allegedly used classrooms and social media to facilitate anti-national recruitment activities.

The NIA revealed that the accused had espoused Khilafat ideologies and promoted jihad, advocating violence and armed struggle to replace the democratically elected government with an Islamic state.

The radicalisation efforts are believed to have culminated in the Coimbatore car bomb attack of October 2022, carried out by suicide bomber Jamesha Mubeen via a vehicle-borne IED in front of a historic Sangameswarar Temple, according to NIA.

The NIA will continue to investigate the matter further.

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