The meeting of State Home Secretaries from ten States, including Tamil Nadu, convened by the Union Home Secretary later this month to finalise strategies to counter the spreading of Islamic State is poof of the fast spreading influence of the dreaded Islamic militancy in this southern State, according to Intelligence and security officials.
Three major developments which occurred in Tamil Nadu has caused apprehension in security establishment that terrorists are using the State as a haven for regrouping. The organised violence unleashed by extremist elements on the night of June 27 at Ambur near Vellore, which saw massive rioting and attacks on policemen, including senior police officers, has shocked the administration. Many vehicles, including police jeeps, were burnt down and the police station itself was ransacked by a mob numbering more than 3,000, according to an intelligence officer who monitored the incidents.
The rioting was in protest against the death of Shameel Ahmed, a tannery factory worker, who allegedly eloped with Pavitra, a married woman who was his colleague. Ahmed was taken into custody following complaints from Pavitra’s husband. Though he was released after questioning, Ahmed fell sick and was admitted to a hospital. He breathed his last after four days and this resulted in the riots. The intelligence official, who did not want his name to be quoted, said the Islamist organisation had brought in “riot specialists” from north India.
All 118 who were arrested in connection with the rioting were granted bail by the Madras High Court on Tuesday. But the role of Aslam Basha, the local MlA representing the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK), a frontal organisation of the extremist TMMK, is being followed seriously by the investigating officers. “Basha addressed the mob which had gathered in front of the police station on June 27 and left the scene before the rioting began,” said one of the police officials.
“Things are going out of control. The Thowheed Jamaat, an organisation funded and financed by religious sects from Saudi Arabia had penetrated every nook and corner of Tamil Nadu,” said a former senior intelligence officer.
The arrest of K Krishnakumar (39), a former lTTE operative from Ramanathapuram district on Monday with 75 cyanide capsules, 300 gram cyanide, four Global Positioning System sets and seven mobile telephones has substantiated the information provided by the IB that lTTE elements were active in the state though silently.
The intelligence official said that the social media is being used effectively by activists of Towheed Jamaat to intensify and strengthen the hatred among community members towards non-Islamic religions.
“The younger generation in Muslim community is all enthused by the Islamic Caliphate which they hope would be formed by the IS,” said the official. Though the proponents of the IS and Caliphate constitute only a fraction of the Muslim population in Tamil Nadu, they have strong influence in the State,” said the IB official.
The arrest of five Maoists from Tirupur last month and the failure of the Tamil Nadu police to nab Abubacker Siddiqui, the master brain behind the assassination of a dozen activists of various Sangh Parivar outfits during 2013-14 are instances of the fact that the State is a haven for all extremist organisations.
“Tamil Nadu based islamists, Maoists and the lTTE elements are working in tandem and this is a disturbing trend,” said B R Haran, a security analyst based in Chennai.