Ernakulam: A day after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) busted an inter-state module of Al-Qaeda operatives and arrested three terrorists from Kerala, shocking revelations have come to the fore.
Neighbours of Murshid Hasan, a suspected terrorist arrested by NIA from Pathalam, said that he was living in Kerala for past one year but they had never suspected that he was into terrorism. Azadul Mulla, a migrant worker, who lived next to Hasan's house spoke exclusively to ETV Bharat and said that he (terrorist) was rarely seen outside his house.
"The news of his arrest has come as a shock to me as we had never imagined that a house next to us was used as a hideout to carry out terror-related activities by an alleged terrorist of a global terror organisation," said Mulla, who lives next to the house from where the NIA sleuths nabbed Murshid.
He added, "Hasan was living with his family in Perumbavoor for almost four years. We don't know whether he is a terrorist or not. But the news of his arrest for being a suspected Al-Qaeda terrorist is shocking. He started living next to us two months back and I don't know much about him."
Asked about his stay as a neighbour, Azadul Mulla said, "He came to stay as our neighbour two months back but his actions never raised any suspicion. We are still living in a terror atmosphere that we had been living with a terrorist. He was rarely seen outside the house and we never saw any strangers coming to visit his place."
"If we knew that he was a terrorist, we would not have allowed him to stay next to us. We came to know when a team of police suddenly barged into our house and attacked us in the middle of the night," the awestruck neighbour said.
However, recalling the past events the neighbour mentioned that once he saw a laptop with Murshid. When asked about the device, Hasan said that he got himself a laptop for watching old movies but later it was damaged. The investigating agency had seized all the electronic devices and his identity cards.
READ: NIA arrests 9 Al-Qaeda operatives: Delhi police briefs media
The NIA had busted Pakistan sponsored Al-Qaeda modules in Murshidabad, West Bengal and Ernakulam, Kerala and arrested nine terrorists on Saturday. The agency conducted simultaneous raids at multiple locations in Ernakulam and Murshidabad early morning today in which nine arrests were made, six from West Bengal and three from Kerala, according to the probe agency.
The NIA had received inputs about an inter-state module of Al-Qaeda operatives at various locations in the country who were planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital places with the aim to kill innocent people and create terror. Based on these inputs, the NIA had registered a case on September 11, 2020, and initiated investigations.
Large quantities of incriminating materials including digital devices, documents, jihadi literature, sharp weapons, country-made firearms, a locally fabricated body armour, articles and literature used for making home-made explosive devices have been seized from the possession of the terrorists.
According to the agency, preliminary investigations have revealed that they were radicalised by Pakistan-based Al-Qaeda terrorists on social media and were motivated to undertake attacks at multiple places including the National Capital Region.
The arrested individuals include Murshid Hasan, Iyakub Biswas, Mosaraf Hossen (all from Ernakulam), and Najmus Sakib, Abu Sufiyan, Mainul Mondal, Leu Yean Ahmed, Al Mamun Kamal, and Atitur Rehman (Murshidabad residents). The module was actively indulging in fundraising and a few members of the gang were planning to travel to New Delhi to procure arms and ammunition. These arrests have pre-empted possible terrorist attacks in various parts of the country. The agency said that the arrested terrorists will be produced before the concerned courts in Kerala and West Bengal for police custody.
With agency inputs
