The Kerala connect to terror in Kashmir is out in open again: It is hardly surprising

With the centre stepping up the ante to beat down radicalisation, the agencies have found that the problem is the highest in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided a house in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with a Kerala Islamic State module.

The Kerala connect is hardly surprising and there have been a number of times that such a connection has cropped in a pan-India terror case.

"In 2021, the National Investigation Agency had started investigations into Mohammed Ameen @ Abu Yahya* r/o Kadannamanna, Distt. Mallapuram (Kerala), who had been running various ISIS propaganda channels on different social media platforms, such as Telegram, Hoop and Instagram. Through these channels, he was propagating violent Jihadi ideologies of ISIS and was radicalizing and recruiting new members to this ISIS module. He and his associates had even identified certain individuals for targeted killings. They had also made plans to undertake Hijrah to Jammu & Kashmir for engaging in terrorist acts and had raised funds from various sources for this trip," the NIA said in a handout.

The case also touches upon the link between Ameen and Deepthi Marla a converted Muslim who is married to Anas Abdul Rahiman from Mangaluru.

The link between the terrorists in Kerala and Kashmir is nothing new. In 2013, 13 persons from Kerala accused of recruiting terrorists for camps in Kashmir were convicted by a court in Thiruvananthapuram. The investigation had shown that the man accused Nazeer and 12 others were aiding Pakistan based groups to recruit terrorists to fight in Kashmir.

Another link had also cropped up in 2008. Four persons from Kerala were killed in a gun battle with the security agencies. The National Investigation Agency had side that it was the first time that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba had used Indians other than Kashmiris in a battle.

The NIA had found that Kerala had 17 camps and had recruited 40 persons for this battle.

The Centre has been upping the ante to wipe out radicalisation. During the many raids, it was found that the Kerala module had managed to establish contact in many parts of the country. During the investigation, the agencies have found that the strongest points of radicalisation in India are Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. This is also to do with the fact that the Popular Front of India (PFI) has its strongest presence in these states. The Ministry of Home Affairs while banning the PFI had said that it was recruiting for the Islamic State.

Ameen has been on the radar of the NIA for long. Hailing from kerala, he was running several Islamic State propaganda channels on various social media platforms.

This module was planning a pan-India strategy and sought to recruit more people across the country. Deepthi Marla, the daughter-in-law of former Congress MLA, the late B M Idinabba was arrested in connection with the same case. She is said to have honey-trapped 10 Hindu youth and converted them to Islam. Once converted, she had forced them to join the Islamic State.

Ameen according to the NIA had visited Kashmir in January 2020 to establish contact with other terror groups and recruit for the Islamic State.