TS Venkatesan
Nation’s prime anti terror probe agency NIA has apprehended one more suspect Faizul Rahman, identified as a Nakib and the state Amir of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. With this, arrested HuT members rose to seven in Tamil Nadu.
In a statement, NIA said “ Raizul Rahman, the seventh accused to be arrested in the case RC.02/20024/NIA/CHE, related to a conspiracy of one Hameed Hussain and others aimed at fostering disaffection and promoting secessionism through anti India ideology of the anti-India outfit. Accused Faizul Rahman was actively engaged with the other arrested accused for propagating secessionism and seeking military assistance from Pakistan to liberate Kashmir.
The ulterior motive of the conspiracy was to establish Khilafat by overthrowing the government of India by waging civil violent jihad. He and the other accused were using various social media handles to spread their propaganda and campaigning against exercising electoral franchise/voting , terming it ‘un-Islamic/Haram as per the ideology of HuT”.
It says “All the arrested accused had been spreading the violence ideology of HuT at the behest of organisation’s Central Media office, to their followers through secret /encrypted communication platforms. The accused had held several secret meeting to spread the ideology of HuT with several groups and had run divisive campaigns throughout Tamil Nadu”
Rahman was found to be actively collaborating with the other detained individuals to advocate for secessionism and solicit military support from Pakistan for the liberation of Kashmir. The conspiracy’s ultimate goal was to establish a Khilafat by overthrowing the Indian government through violent jihad. Investigations by the NIA revealed that Rahman and his associates utilized various social media platforms to disseminate their propaganda and campaigned against voting, labeling it as ‘un-Islamic/haram’ in line with Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s beliefs.
The arrested individuals had been propagating the violent ideology of HuT under directives from the organization’s central media office, employing encrypted communication channels to reach their followers. They conducted numerous clandestine meetings to promote HuT’s ideology and executed divisive campaigns throughout Tamil Nadu. The NIA, which took over the investigation from the Chennai City police in July 2024, continues its inquiries.
Sleuths from Serious Crime Squad of the Greater Chennai police have arrested Sait alias Abdul Rahim (32) , worked as Imam in a mosque, on 3rd October night from Tondiarpet for allegedly brainwashing youth and recruiting them for Hizb-Ut-Tahrir, a fundamentalist outfit. He had a grudge against a group of members of the mosque who supported Vinayagar Chaturthi procession and quarrelled with them. Following his arrest, police conducted a search at his house and found pamphlets and books related to the outfit. Police seized 17 books about the caliphate and the Islamic ruling system, and one machete from his house.
NIA had registered a case initially booked by the Central Crime Branch of Chennai ( Tamil Nadu) police against six accused, who were allegedly influenced by extremist, radical and fundamentalist ideology of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (TuH), an international pan-Islamist and fundamentalist organization fighting to establish the Islamic Caliphate and enforce a constitution authored by the organization’s founder Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani. NIA had formally taken charge of the investigation from the Chennai police and registered a new FIR on July 24.
Chennai police handed over crucial documents to the agency on August 5. On 30st August) NIA arrested a key accused Aziz Ahamed alias Aziz Ahmed alias Jaleel Aziz Ahmed at the Bengaluru international airport while he was trying to leave the country in the HuT. Hameed Hussain, a key conspirator in the case, had collaborated with five other accused to hold secret meetings to promote the anti-India ideology of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir.
NIA already arrested Dr Hameed Hussain, Ahamed Mansoor, Abdul Rahman, H Mohamed Maurice, Kadar Nawaz Sherif, Ahmed Ali Umari , Abdul Rahman in Thanjavur, Mujibir Rahman in Chennai Thiruvanmiyur, Ajees Ahamed and Aziz Ahamed with so many alias from Bangaluru.
