NIA raids Srinagar youth’s house amid ongoing probe into Kerala locals’ recruitment into ISIS

The Central agency is investigating Kerala locals for their alleged links with the ISIS

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on March 13 raided the house of an alleged ISIS operative in Srinagar as part of its investigation into the recruitment of Kerala locals into the outfit.

Separately, a militant’s house was “attached” and a hideout busted in south Kashmir by the J&K Police.

The NIA searched the house of Uzair Azhar Bhat in Karfali Mohalla, Srinagar, and “seized digital devices”. “The devices are being examined and further investigations are in progress,” the NIA said.

The NIA is investigating the links of a Kerala resident, Mohammed Ameen alias Abu Yahya, a resident of Kadannamanna in Mallapuram, and Deepthi Marla, a converted Muslim of Kerala married to Anas Abdul Rahiman of Mangaluru, for their alleged links with the ISIS.

According to the NIA, Mr. Ameen was running various ISIS propaganda channels on different social media platforms such as Telegram, Hoop and Instagram. “Through these channels, he [Ameen]) was propagating violent jehadi ideologies of the ISIS and was radicalising and recruiting new members to this ISIS module. He and his associates had even identified certain individuals for targeted killings,” the NIA said.

Mr. Ameen and Ms. Marla were also planning to shift to J&K “for engaging in terrorist acts and had raised funds from various sources for this trip”.

“During the probe, it was found that Mr. Ameen was in touch with Ms. Marla. In 2015, she had gone to Dubai to pursue studies where she met Mizha Siddeeque and both women developed an inclination towards ISIS. In 2019, they tried to do ‘hijrah’ (migration) to Khorasan and reached Tehran, Iran. After reaching Tehran, their contact with ISIS operatives based in Khorasan could not be established,” the NIA said.