NIA raids three places in Kerala, police say one detained

New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, April 28 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday raided three places in Kerala in connection with an Islamic State module, with police in the state saying that one suspect had been detained.

The NIA said it was investigating an Islamic State module. 

A senior NIA official in the national capital said: "The agency carried out raids at the residential premises of three suspects -- two places in Kasaragod and one in Palakkad." 

The official said the raids were carried out after the agency got a tip that the three persons are suspected to have links with some of the accused who had earlier exited India to join the Islamic State. 

In Thiruvananthapuram, a Kerala police official told IANS that the NIA had taken one person from Palakkad district, which borders Tamil Nadu, into custody for further questioning.

A police official attached to the Kollengode police station said that the NIA approached them and sought security.

"We accompanied them and they have taken one person into custody. After picking him up, they returned to Kochi," said the official.

NIA officials in Kasaragod also served notice to two people, identified only as Abubacker and Ahamed, to report on Monday at the Kochi NIA office.

In New Delhi, the NIA said it had seized a number of digital devices including mobile phones, SIM cards, memory cards, pen drives, diaries with handwritten notes in Arabic and Malayalam, DVDs of Zakir Naik besides untitled DVDs. 

He said the agency also seized compact discs of religious speeches. 

The NIA said the case relates to the criminal conspiracy hatched by people from Kasaragod district of Kerala and their associates to join the Islamic State. 

According to the NIA, as part of the conspiracy, 14 accused from Kasaragod left India or their work places in the Middle East between May and July 2016 before travelling to Afghanistan or Syria where they joined the Islamic State.