NIA arrests 8 ISIS agents in 19 raids across four states, foils IED blast plan

New Delhi: In a major crackdown against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday raided 19 locations across four States and arrested eight operatives of the banned terror outfit's Ballari module, foiling plans of the accused to carry out terror acts, especially IED blasts.

Those arrested include its leader, Minaz, alias Md Sulaiman from Ballari. Others arrested are Syed Sameer from Ballari; Anas Iqbal Shaikh from Mumbai; Mohammad Muniruddin, Syid Samiullah alias Sami, Md Muzammil from Bengaluru; Shayan Rahman alias Hussain from Delhi; and Md Shahbaz alias Zulfikar alias Guddu from Jamshedpur.
NIA teams swooped down on the 19 locations spread across Ballari and Bengaluru in Karnataka; Amaravati, Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra; Jamshedpur and Bokaro in Jharkhand and Delhi.

The eight ISIS agents arrested during the raids were involved in actively promoting terror and terror-related acts and activities of ISIS, the proscribed organisation, said the NIA.

The raids also led to the seizure of explosive raw materials, such as sulphur, potassium nitrate, charcoal, gunpowder, sugar, ethanol, sharp-edged weapons, unaccounted cash and incriminating documents, along with smartphones and other digital devices.

According to initial investigations, the accused had planned to use the explosive raw materials for the fabrication of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which were to be used for carrying out terror acts.

Investigations have further revealed that the accused, in pursuance of the path of violent Jihad, Khilafat, and ISIS, were continuously in touch with one another via encrypted apps, said the NIA.

"They were specifically aiming at college students for the purposes of recruitment and were also circulating documents relating to the recruitment of Mujahideen for the purpose of Jihad."

The raids conducted on Monday were part of the NIA's efforts to destroy the ISIS anti-terrorist conspiracy against India.

The searches were carried out through close coordination and the operational assistance of Karnataka Police, Maharashtra Police, Jharkhand Police and Delhi Police.

NIA had registered a case against the ISIS-inspired Ballari module on December 14. It has, since then, been working closely with the state police and central agencies to track and apprehend members of this module.

The anti-terror agency has been conducting large-scale crackdowns and has busted various ISIS modules in recent months. Several terror operatives have been arrested in these raids by the NIA. (ANI)