NIA files case against 8 alleged ‘ISIS sympathisers’ from Kerala

Since July 2016, at least 21 youths from Kerala have gone missing and are suspected to have joined the ISIS.

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A case under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act was filed on Friday against eight men from Kerala for allegedly sympathising with banned terror group IS, the NIA said.

National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials in New Delhi said that a case was registered against Shaibu Nihar, Mansoor, Fajid, (all residents of Kozhikode), Muhadis, Manzoor and Ashraf Moulavi (all residents of Malappuram), Shahnad of Kannur and Safeer of Ernakulam in the state, following a Union Home Ministry direction issued on Thursday.

According to the NIA officials, the counter-terror probe agency took over the case from the Kerala Police which had last year booked the eight people for allegedly joining the IS. "They were travelling or preparing to travel from Bahrain to Syria for joining the terror group," an official added.

Since July 2016, at least 21 youths from Kerala have gone missing and are suspected to have joined the ISIS, which is being investigated by the NIA.

Kerala’s missing 21, as they came to be known in the media in 2016, included six couples and children. Further investigations revealed a sinister connection of radicalisation between the 21.

Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s name was also dragged into the controversy, as a few of the missing had apparently been listening to him. The disappearance also raised questions about the Salafi thought in Islam as some of the missing youngsters had visited the Salafi commune at Athikkad hills in Malappuram district.

Musthafa, a resident of the commune and the man who confirmed this, had told TNM, “I do not know if they joined the IS but I am sure that they have left as life in Kerala has become unbearable. Our fight is not against other religions. We cannot tolerate Muslims who are not practising true Islam.”

(With IANS inputs)

Read: The men and women recruited by Islamic State from Kerala: NIA releases pictures