The > five men arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Hyderabad on suspicion of being part of an IS terror module said they were convinced of establishing a Caliphate in India and one of them even called their interrogators as “kafir” or infidels, a senior NIA official who is part of the investigations told The Hindu .
The NIA, which arrested the terror suspects, claimed on Saturday that the accused had jointly taken a pledge owing allegiance to the Islamic State and its commander Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. A statement issued by the NIA said one of the accused had said during his interrogation that the pledge had been conveyed to Baghdadi in Syria. The accused even divided portfolios among themselves for carrying out their objectives.
Syria contact The NIA official said one of the accused, Mohammad Ibrahim Yazdani (30), an electronics engineer, who appointed himself as the leader of the group, had earlier attempted to go to Syria via a neighbouring country. It was Yazdani, who was in touch with the Syria-based IS handler, suspected to be former Indian Mujahideen (IM) member, Shafi Armar.
“We suspect that Yazdani conveyed his pledge to Baghdadi via Armar. The accused has so far proven to be a tough nut to crack and is highly motivated. He has his own idea of creating an Islamic State in India,” said a senior NIA official.
“The accused were using chat and email platforms for communicating amongst themselves as well as the handler,” said the NIA official.
Scouting for material The official added that the accused visited places outside Hyderabad to procure explosives that could have acted as precursor chemicals and firearms.
“The accused had money transactions from Middle East on several occasions through the hawala route as well as regular money transfer channels, and the source of these transactions are highly suspect and under investigation,” said the official.
They were scouting for hideouts nearby Hyderabad, for assembling the bombs and also for safe shelter after committing the terror attack, said the official.
