The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing a meeting organised by the Kerala module of the Islamic State (IS) at Kanakamala in Kannur has arraigned two more persons as accused in the case.
According to NIA officials, Moinudeen, a native of Kasaragod, has been arraigned as the 13th accused in the case. His involvement in the case came to light while examining the origin of funds received by the group.
Moinudeen, under custody of the UAE police, had frequently send money to the group to commence its operations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The NIA passed on this information to the police agencies in the UAE, which later took him into custody.
The NIA has already kick-started attempts to extradite Moinudeen and the procedure is expected to be completed with in the next few weeks.
Apart from him, the NIA has arraigned Shajeer Mangalasseri of Kozhikode as an accused in the case. Shajeer, who is believed to have joined the IS in Afghanistan, frequently posts messages on his Facebook page created in the name of ‘Sameer Ali.’ He is also suspected to be the link between the persons who went to Afghanistan from Kasaragod and members of the IS module busted at Kanakamala in Kannur.
A civil engineering graduate from the National Institute of Technology-Kozhikode, Shajeer had worked in the UAE. He is suspected to have joined the IS in 2015, and then reached Afghanistan via Iran in April this year.
A month ago, the NIA had arraigned Kamal, a native of Chennai, as an accused in the case. Kamal was associated with Subahani Haja Moideen, a key IS operative in southern India.
Based on intelligence inputs, the NIA, in October 2016, busted the IS group which held a secret meeting at Kanakamala in Kannur. During investigation, the agency found that the group had planned to attack religious places, tourist locations, and prominent personalities in Kerala.
