Kerala man held in probe into IS module

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“During his examination, he admitted to his involvement in the conspiracy and, therefore, he was arrested today at NIA Hqrs [headquarters],” according to an NIA statement.

Mouinudheen’s arrest relates to NIA’s busting of an alleged IS group at Kanakamala in Kannur, Kerala, in October last year. Subsequent probe found that the group was planning to attack religious places and locations frequented by Israeli tourists, the agency claimed. It said that they also had plans to attack Kerala High Court judges and political leaders.

One of the group’s handler had been identified as Manglasherry, who was operating from Iran but had ostensibly moved to Afghanistan by the time the module was busted.

“On October 2, 2016, based on intelligence inputs, five accused associated with this terror module were arrested from Kanakmala Hill in Kannoor [Kannur] district,” the NIA stated. “Another associate was arrested from Calicut the same day. Based on their revelation, it was established that Mouinudheen was a key figure in the module, which was actively planning various aspects of terrorist plot, on a Telegram group.”

The agency said that Mouinudheen used the online identity Abu-Al-Indonesi, as well as Ibn Abdullah, on the Telegram group. “It was also revealed by the arrested persons that Mouinudheen had sent funds from Abu Dhabi to members of the terrorist module in Kerala, for purposes of the conspiracy, through Western Union Money Transfer, last year,” according to the statement.