Kozhikode: One of the six men arrested by the National Investigation Agency for their suspected links to the Islamic State terror network had attacked the Kottakkal police station in 2007. P Safwan from Malappuram is the 11th accused in the case that was a fallout of the arrests in connection with the murder of Lakshmanan from Tanur.
The accused arrested from Kanakamala in Kannur district last week had earlier met up at least twice outside Kerala, the investigators suspect. The group had contacts in Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi.
The National Investigation Agency is on the trail of 10 suspects who had planned attacks in at least 12 places in Kerala. The six accused picked from Kanakamala were produced before a court. Two more persons will be presented before the court on Wednesday. The investigators have yet to disclose how many other suspects had been identified in connection with the case.
The places the group had planned to blow up are under a strict watch. The NIA is examining the forensic report of two recent blasts in Kerala, including the one in the Kollam Civil Station, to establish any connection with the group.
The police have increased the security cover for the two High Court judges, two political leaders and one senior police officer who found a place in the group’s hit-list. The accused, however, have not disclosed details of their plan to attack them.
A dozen of the electronic devices seized from the suspects have been sent for detailed examinations at the Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). The cyber forensic experts are likely to finish the examinations in two days and throw light on the use of an app for sharing secret information.
Sleuths have already tracked down the seditious posters the accused had circulated on social media.
More such posters and propaganda material cropped up on social media in the name of Sameer Ali, thought to be an associate of one of the accused, Mansood.
The investigators are parsing the call details made available from the phone used by a suspect arrested in Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu. Subhani, whose parents have been settled in Thodupuzha, had given his phone to a relative in the town to repair. The NIA officers are examining his contacts in and around Thodupuzha.
