As many as 127 persons connected to the global terror group ISIS have been arrested in India so far. Most of the ISIS-linked persons were arrested from Tamil Nadu, where 33 radicals were nabbed, followed by 19 from Uttar Pradesh, 17 from Kerala and 14 from Telangana, the NIA said on Monday.
The NIA has registered a total of 287 cases till September this year and a bulk of it is related to terrorism. The number of terror related probe under NIA probe is 110.
Of the 177 remaining cases, the agency has registered 50 cases for probing insurgency in the Northeast, 48 instances of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), 28 for investigating Naxal-related incidents, 15 for Khalistani terrorism, one case involves human trafficking besides 35 in miscellaneous category.
Terror-related cases under NIA probe, 32 instances are from Jammu and Kashmir, 22 are connected to the ISIS terror group 50 have been put in "others" category.
"In three of these ISIS cases from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the accused have admitted that they were radicalised by Colombo suicide bomber Zahran Hashim's videos.
The NIA had swung into action only after the Colomobo bombings that took a toll of over 250 persons including 12 Indians in a serial suicide bombings incident.
The Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was trying to spread its tentacles across India and a list of 125 suspects have been shared with different states, National Investigation Agency (NIA) Chief, YC Modi said.
Modi was addressing a meeting of chiefs of the Anti Terrorism Squads (ATS), Modi said the JMB has spread its activities in States like Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala in the guise of Bangladeshi immigrants.
"The NIA has shared with states concerned a list of 125 suspected activists who have close links with the JMB leadership," he said.
NIA Inspector General Alok Mittal said from 2014 to 2018, the JMB has set up 20-22 hideouts in Bengaluru and tried to spread its bases in South India.
"The JMB even conducted a trial of rocket launchers in the Krishnagiri hills along the Karnataka border," Mittal added.
