Influenced by Lanka bomber, man plots attacks in Kerala; arrested
The accused, Riyas Aboobacker or known as Riyas A, would be produced before the NIA Court in Kochi on Tuesday.
Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested the man who was allegedly conspiring to commit a terrorist attack in Kerala, reportedly inspired by the alleged mastermind of the Sri Lanka bombings, in Kasaragod ISIS module case.
The accused, Riyas Aboobacker or known as Riyas A, would be produced before the NIA Court in Kochi on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old suspect has reportedly confessed to have been inspired by Zahran Hashim, the alleged mastermind behind Sri Lanka Easter suicide bombings in which at least 250 died. "He had been following speeches and videos of Hashim and Zakir Naik for last one year," a senior NIA officer said.
According to the officer, more alarming was Riyas A's disclosure on how he was planning to carry out a suicide attack in Kerala reported NDTV. Riyas also claimed that he tried to convince other members of the module to follow Hashim. "The suspect is well versed with Tamil and followed Hashim's speeches and videos. He tried to rope in others but could not convince as they didn't know Tamil", an official said, adding that they are interrogating Riyas to determine his targets in Kerala.
Riyas had admitted that he was in contact with the missing accused Abdul Rashid Abdulla for a long time and had been following his audio clips, including the one which he had circulated on the social media platforms instigating others to carry out terror attacks in India.
He also disclosed that he was in contact with Abdul Khayoom, an accused in Valapattanam ISIS case, who was believed to be in Syria.
The NIA on Sunday conducted a raid at the houses of three suspects (two in Kasaragod and one in Palakkad district), who allegedly have links with the accused who left India to join terror organisation ISIS in 2016.
The case was registered in July 2016 following the disappearance of 15 youths from Kasargod.