Thodupuzha/Chennai: The man arrested from Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu in connection with a suspected Islamic State module in Kerala left his home three years ago, the National Investigation Agency sleuths were told.
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Subhani had worked in his father’s garment trading business in Thodupuzha before leaving for Tirunelveli in 2012. He went abroad in 2013 and has not returned to Thodupuzha after that, his siblings said.
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Subhani is the third of the four children of a merchant who came to Thodupuzha from Tirunelveli 40 years ago. His father owns a garment shop in Thodupuzha town. His siblings live in and around the town.
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The suspect went to a school in Thodupuzha and got himself trained in computer technology. He worked for a private firm in Kochi for a while before returning to assist his father in the business. He later went to Tirunelveli and got married.
An NIA team from Kochi visited Subhani’s siblings on Monday to record their statements. They received a vital clue that one of Subhani’s nephews, who visited the suspect in Tirunelveli, had brought back his phone for repairing. The phone could provide valuable information on Subhani’s contacts, an NIA officer said.
Subhani, who worked as a salesman in his relative’s jewellery shop at Kadayanallur in Tirunelveli, kept himself aloof, his neighbors said. He was arrested on information given by the men arrested in Kannur.
Subhani has been drawing a salary of Rs 10,000 from the jewellery for four months. Though he has been living in a rented house with his wife for four months, his neighbors hardly know anything about him. He left early for work and came back late, they said.
