New Delhi: Intelligence inputs regarding a possible terror attack in Sri Lanka was shared by Indian agencies with their Sri Lankan counterparts earlier this month after the National Investigation Agency completed its probe into an ISIS-inspired module planning to kill prominent leaders in South India, officials said here.
The input was sent through diplomatic channels to the island nation after a thorough investigation pertaining to the ISIS case in Coimbatore was carried out by the NIA, which has filed a charge sheet against seven people.
During investigation, the probe team had stumbled upon videos of National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) leader Zahran Hashim, which was indicative of a terror attack on the Indian High Commission in Colombo.
After further investigation which included cyber trailing of some of the accounts associated with the ISIS, the central security agencies shared an input with their Lankan counterparts about the churches being the likely target of the ISIS module, they said.
Over 350 people were killed in Sunday's serial blasts at churches and hotels.
The videos, seized from the accused in the Coimbatore case, showed Hashim asking youths from Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala to establish an Islamic rule in the region.
The arrested accused, who have been charge-sheeted since then, include Mohamed Ashiq A, Ismail S, Samsudeen, Mohammed Salauddin S, Jafar Shadik Ali and Shahul Hameed.
The case was originally registered at B3 Variety Hall Police Station, Coimbatore City on September 1 last year and pertained to the criminal conspiracy hatched by the accused with the intention of furthering the objectives of the proscribed terrorist organisation ISIS by targeting Hindu leaders and activists, who are critical of religious terrorism.
The NIA investigation showed that the arrested persons had got radicalized on the violent extremist ideology of the ISIS and they had been propagating the same ideology over the social media.
With the intention of furthering the objectives of the terrorist organisation ISIS in India, the accused had organized themselves into a terrorist gang in June, 2018 and conspired to further the activities of the group by carrying out terrorist attacks targeting persons critical of the proscribed terrorist organisation and its violent extremism ideology.
The accused in Coimbatore case were in touch with Hashim for being enrolled in the ISIS terror group.
Though the investigation in the case are complete, the officials did not rule out the possibility of questioning all the six accused again in case some evidence suggested that they had any knowledge about the blasts in Sri Lanka.
Morocco shared key intelligence
Morocco shared sensitive intelligence with Sri Lanka that helped Colombo identify the nine bombers and their handlers in the Islamic State, informed sources have indicated. The information was also shared with India as New Delhi and Morocco have a strong counter-terror cooperation.
This was done within 48 hours of the Easter Sunday attacks that killed nearly 360 people in the island nation.
Morocco, a North African country that follows a moderate strand of Islam, has one of the successful records of counter-terrorism and de-radicalization in the Islamic world.
In an interview in October, Abdelhak Khiame, Head of Morocco's Central Bureau of Legal Investigation (BCIJ), said Moroccan security services dismantled "183 terrorist cells" in the country that were in the various stages of planning "361 devastating terrorist projects" in the kingdom.
More than 3,000 people, including 292 individuals with previous criminal record, have been arrested by Moroccan authorities over the past decade.
India and Morocco have a strong and multi-dimensional agreement on counter-terrorism cooperation.
During a visit to New Delhi last year, Moroccan Justice Minister Mohamed Auajjar had said in an interview to the Economic Times that "Morocco has a well-established school of counter-terrorism, which is globally recognised. We have counter-terror cooperation including bilateral legal arrangements with major countries to fight terror. Given the expansion in ties with India and mutual interest, we decided to sign these treaties with Delhi, taking our counter-terror partnership to the next level".
The Minister further said, echoing the views of King Mohammed VI. that Islam was against terrorism and "a wrong interpretation of jihad that is being propagated, instead of a jihad against poverty".
The Minister said "Morocco's de-radicalization initiatives have been lauded by the international community. We pursue a multi-dimensional counter-terror strategy that has three distinct stands: intelligence gathering, socio-economic reforms, and reform of religious schools".
Morocco has shared important intelligence and counter-terrorism information in the past with "friendly countries" like France, Spain and Belgium and with its growing ties with India there have been 10 ministerial visits in the past year - there is enhanced cooperation on this front between New Delhi and Rabat.