NIA’s New Task In Tamil Nadu: To Probe Police Officer’s Murder, As It Reveals A Deeper ISIS Network

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the case relating to the murder of Tamil Nadu police sub-inspector Y Wilson on 8 January at the State’s border in Kerala in view of the suspicion that a larger network could be involved in this.

Wilson, a sub-inspector at the Kaliyakkavilai town in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari, was shot dead by two alleged ISIS network members, Abdul Shamim and Thofique Yosuf, when he stopped their car for security check.

The case has been handed over the NIA as 22 persons have been arrested so far in connection with the murder and law enforcing agencies feel that all those involved in the network need to be brought to book.

The need for the handing over of the police official murder case assumes significance after Tamil Nadu police arrested another person connected with the murder.

The arrested person, A Shaikh Dawood, from his hideout in a fishing hamlet in Ramanathapuram district is suspected to have links with ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).

A report in the Times of India quoted Ramanathapuram district Superintendent of Police R V Varunkumar as saying that Dawood had transferred funds to one of those involved in the murder of Wilson.

He had close links with Khaja Moideen, one of the three persons involved in the murder of a Hindu Munnani leader K P Suresh Kumar in July 2018 at Ambattur, a Chennai suburb.

Dawood had reportedly confessed to police that he headed an ISIS network, which wanted to attack those who spoke against Islam and getting out their leaders lodged in various prisions.

Dawood, who was arrested in 2018 for radicalising youth struggling due to poverty and went missing after getting bail, has been mobilising funds for his activities, including from abroad, police said.

Police arrest of Dawood is a creditable job since he rarely used mobile phone and was always on the move, making it difficult for the police to keep track of his movements.

Investigations so far into the murder of the Tamil Nadu police official show that Wilson was targeted as Delhi police had on 7 January arrested Moideen and Syed Ali Nawaz, also involved in the Ambattur murder, after they had stayed in Nepal and procured arms and ammunition.

Moideen had plans to revive ISIS networks across the country with its base in Bengaluru. Besides, these suspects are alleged to have set up a base in Nepal too.

Police also arrested four others from Vadodra and Bengaluru. Vadodra police arrested Zafar Ali, who was part of the ISIS network and wanted to establish a module in Gujarat.

On the other hand, the ‘Q’ Branch of Tamil Nadu police arrested three persons from Gurappanapalya in Bengaluru on 7 January for being part of Moideen’s network.

The three — Mohammed Hanif Khan, Imran Khan and Mohammed Zaid — were in the possession of 89 rounds of bullets, three pistols, bomb-making material and an instrument that can be used to climb high walls.

The development was on the heels of reports that Tamil Nadu has become a region where most ISIS modules have been unearthed between 2014 and 2019. Kerala, from where nearly 100 had gone to join ISIS, is third among the states for detection of ISIS modules.

All those arrested for being part of the ISIS network have reportedly been influenced by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The two primary suspects in the Wilson murder cases — Shamim and Yosuf — were arrested on 15 January from Udupi In Karnataka. Shamim is also an accused in the Ambattur murder case and all the three accused in the case jumped bail, leading to a manhunt by the police for them.

The weapons used by Shamim and Yosuf in the murder of the Tamil Nadu police official have been recovered by police from Kerala. Police investigations are pointing out at Moideen as the lynchpin of the entire network. (Read here for details)

With new evidences emerging every passing day, there is a need for a comprehensive probe into not just the murder of Tamil Nadu police official but also on the whole network that has been involved.

In that way, the NIA taking over the case is a step in the right direction.