Terrorism: Nine Al-Qaeda terrorists were arrested early today as various raids were carried out in Kerala and Bengal, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. The raids were led in West Bengal’s Murshidabad and Kerala’s Ernakulam.
“NIA had learnt about an inter-state module of Al-Qaeda operatives at various locations in India, including West-Bengal and Kerala. The group was planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital installations in India with an aim to kill innocent people and strike terror,” an official statement by the probe agency read
All accused are said to be in their early twenties and work as labourers. The 9 men have been identified as: Murshid Hasan, Iyakub Biswas and Mosaraf Hossen, currently residents of Ernakulam in Kerala. Kerala Police sources have said the three arrested from Ernakulam were natives of Bengal and were residing in and around Perumbavur, the largest guest workers settlement in Kerala.
Six others arrested from Bengal are Najmus Sakib, Abu Sufiyan, Mainul Mondal, Leu Yean Ahmed, Al Mamun Kamal and Atitur Rehman, all residents of Murshidabad in West Bengal.
The module was “actively indulging in fund-raising and a few members of gang were planning to travel to Delhi to procure arms and ammunition,” as per the initial investigation.