Fourteen persons, deported for allegedly raising funds in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for an Islamic State in India, were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), reports The Hindu. They were brought in a special aircraft to Chennai (Tamil Nadu) from New Delhi on July 15 and remanded in judicial custody after being produced before a special court for NIA cases in Poonamallee on the Chennai city’s outskirts. The arrests were made by the NIA following the registration of an FIR in New Delhi on receipt of credible information by the Central Government that the group which called itself Wahdat-e-Islami, along with another called Jarnab Islam Al Jihadya, was trying to establish Islamic rule in India. They had allegedly received training from the ‘Ansarullah Movement’ in Yemen.
According to NIA sources, the group members were influenced by al Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) and were from Melapalayam (Tirunelveli District), Tiruvarur (Thiruvarur District), Nagapattinam (Nagapattinam District), Ramanathapuram (Ramanathapuram District) and Chennai (Chennai District). They were engaged in raising funds for the purpose of committing acts of terror. The Special Public Prosecutor, C.S. Pillai said, “The UAE authorities detained them and deported them.” They were first produced before a Delhi court on July 14 After granting transit remand, the court directed that they be produced before the jurisdictional court concerned in the State (as they hailed from Tamil Nadu), said NIA officials. The NIA named Hassan Ali Yunus Maraikayar as prime accused. Among the other members are: Mohammed Sheik, Mohhamed Azharuddin, Thoufik Ahamed, Mohammed Aksar, Moideen Seeni Shahul Hameed, Mohammed Ibrahim, Meeran Kani and Mohammed Ibrahim.