Kochi: The Pakistan-controlled al Qaeda module that was busted on Saturday with the arrest of nine people, including three from Ernakulam, received financial support from Kerala, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has said.
Based on the preliminary statements of Murshid Hassan, Iyakub Biswas and Mosaraf Hossen, the three arrested in Kerala, the investigation team is examining the financial transactions over the last five years of four organisations and two institutions in the state.
In their statements, the three arrested have admitted that their main responsibility was to raise funds for the activities of al Qaeda in south India, but the NIA’s preliminary conclusion is that they do not have the intellectual capacity to carry out the task. It believes they were just acting on the instructions of the brains that controlled the al Qaeda’s operations in Kerala.
Although Murshid Hassan, who was arrested from Pathalam near Eloor, was the one who coordinated the group’s activities in Ernakulam, his laptop, which was seized by the NIA, was used by someone else.
His laptop and smartphone were controlled and used remotely using a system-sharing application, the NIA said.
From the initial statements of the arrested persons, the investigation team realised that the mastermind of the operations was someone else.
Even though they have the identity cards issued in West Bengal, NIA sources said the agency has information that they are Bangladeshis.
Searches in Thiruvananthapuram, more arrests likely
Kochi/Thiruvananthapuram: Intelligence agencies in the state have intensified their surveillance to find the accomplices of those arrested in Ernakulam. It is learnt that an accomplice of Murshid Hassan is now somewhere in the southern districts.
An NIA team from Delhi carried out investigations in Thiruvananthapuram also.
