Jammu and Kashmir: NIA conducts search in Srinagar in ISIS Kerala module case

NIA said that the house of Uzair Azhar Bhat of Karfali Mohalla, Srinagar, who is suspected to have been part of the ISIS conspiracy, was raided and searched by the sleuts of the anti terror agency.

In 2021, the NIA had started investigations into activities of Mohammed Ameen alias Abu Yahya, a resident of Kadannamanna, Mallapuram Kerala, who had been running various ISIS propaganda channels on different social media platforms, such as Telegram, Hoop and Instagram, they said.

“Through these channels, he was propagating violent Jihadi ideologies of ISIS and was radicalizing and recruiting new members to this ISIS module. He and his associates had even identified certain individuals for targeted killings. They had also made plans to undertake Hijrah (migration) to Jammu & Kashmir for engaging in terrorist acts and had raised funds from various sources for this trip,” the NIA said.

During the probe, it was found that Ameen was in touch with Deepthi Marla of Kerala, a converted Muslim, married to Anas Abdul Rahiman of Mangalore. In 2015, she had gone to Dubai to pursue studies where she met Mizha Siddeeque and both women developed an inclination towards ISIS, the agency said.

“In 2019, they tried to do Hijrah to Khorasan and reached Tehran, Iran. After reaching Tehran, their contact with ISIS operatives based in Khorasan could not be established. They both returned to India, and Deepthi got in touch with Ameen, Obaid Hamid Matta, Madesh Shankar alias Abdullah and others and made plans to undertake Hijrah to ISIS administered territory. In January 2020, she went to Srinagar in January 2020 to meet Obaid to plan the Hijrah and stayed in Srinagar for one week,” the NIA said.

They said one of the common contacts between Deepthi and Obaid was Uzair Azhar Bhat, a Srinagar resident, who is suspected to have been part of the conspiracy.

The NIA conducted a search at Bhat’s house in Karfali Mohalla, Srinagar and seized digital devices which are being examined and further investigations are in progress.

(With UNI inputs)