Author: Shahina Kk
Publication: Tehelka
Date: July 17, 2010
URL: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main46.asp?filename=Ne170710niaprobe.asp
THE NATIONAL Investigation Agency (NIA) set
up in 2008 to look into cases affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity
of the country, has been very busy in Kerala. Of a total of 14 cases being
investigated by the top intelligence agency, comparable to the FBI of the
US, the state has a disproportionately high share of six. The most sensitive
is that of a fellow IPS officer who allegedly met 'wanted men' on unauthorised
trips abroad. This case was taken over by NIA at the request of the state
government.
The NIA has taken over most of these cases
because it sees a common thread running through them: the routing of funds.
Funds for terrorist activities all over the country seem to be coming through
Kerala, sources in the NIA reveal. What is already in the public domain, with
regard to channeling of funds through Kerala, is the statement by Home Minister
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan in July 2007 in the Assembly that hawala transactions
worth Rs 10,000 crore were taking place in Kerala every year. Intelligence
agencies say a good chunk of this goes to spreading extremism. These are the
cases the NIA is looking into:
1. THE KOZHIKODE TWIN BLAST CASE
Bomb blasts had taken place on March 3, 2006
at two bus stands of Kozhikode. Two policemen and a porter were injured in
the blasts. Nine persons were listed as accused by Kerala Police's Joint Investigation
Team (JIT). Two of these, who are in Saudi Arabia, were declared fugitives
by NIA four months after it took over the case in December 2009. In March,
suspected LeT operative T Nazir, under interrogation by the NIA, admitted
that he had masterminded the twin blasts. He was escorted to various localities
in Kannur including Camp Bazar and Thekki Bazar, where he confessed to having
devised the bombs and Payyambalam and Maidanapally beaches where he tested
the explosives.
Nazir, described as the South India commander
of the LeT outfit, is said to have masterminded a well-orchestrated recruitment
drive of Muslim youths to the outfit.
2. THE PANAYIKKULAM SIMI CAMP
A 'secret' meeting was held by 18 people in
an auditorium at Panayikkulam in Ernakulam on August 15, 2006. Five among
the 18 participants were arrested. The police seized some printed material
including the literature of banned SIMI. The case then was handed over to
a Joint Investigation Team. The JIT, on further investigation, felt that the
remaining 13 persons, who were earlier treated as witnesses by the local police,
had also been involved. All but one were arrested and produced in the court,
which granted bail to nine.
3. SIMI CAMP, WAGAMON
The police has registered a case on an alleged
SIMI camp conducted in December 2007 in Wagamon, Kottayam, based on an intelligence
report. In the investigation by JIT, it was found that 43 people from different
states had attended the camp. At least two of those who attended the Wagamon
camp - Shaduli and Ansar Moulavi - had been arrested by Kerala police on August
15, 2006 for holding a meeting in Binanipuram in Alwaye near Kochi. Both the
cases had been handed over to NIA on February 8, 2010.
4. THE KASHMIR RECRUITMENT
The investigation starts in a followup to
an encounter killing of four Malayalees in J&K in October 2008. Forces
say that they were trying to sneak out to Pakistan through the Line of Control.
A case was registered and the JIT, in its investigation, found that a meeting
had been held in Kannur on August 14, 2008, in which five youth had been selected
for arms training under LeT in Pakistanoccupied Kashmir. Twenty-three were
named, including the four killed in this case. The team completed the investigation
and submitted the chargesheet in the special court on August 17, 2009. The
case was taken over by the NIA four months later.
5. THE BUS BURNING IN KALAMASSERY, KOCHI
A bus belonging to the Tamil Nadu Transport
Corporation was hijacked and burnt allegedly to protest the harassment of
PDP chairman Abdul Nasser Madani in Coimbatore jail - he was later acquitted
and formed the PDP. The incident took place on September 9, 2005. Nine persons
were named. Sufiya, Madani's wife was later indicted as one of the accused.
T Nazir, who confessed to the twin bus blasts, is also said to have plotted
the act of arson to draw attention to Madani's plight.
6. TOMIN J THACHANKARY'S FOREIGN TRIPS
The frequent foreign trips of the controversial
IGP of Kerala Tomin J Thachankary added him to the list of persons being probed
by the NIA. Investigators have been asked to probe into his alleged meetings
with those wanted in terror cases and his possession of two passports.
The Centre's decision to probe the allegations
against Thachankary came in the wake of a letter from Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan
to the Union Home Ministry seeking a probe against the IPS officer. Thachankary
is believed to be the blue-eyed boy of the official faction of the ruling
CPM and he has always been on the hit-list of the Chief Minister. The case
was taken over by the NIA only a few days ago.
According to Loknath Behra, operations chief
of NIA and a Kerala cadre IPS officer, the investigation of the cases relating
to the SIMI camps and the Kalamassery bus burning is in the final stage and
the chargesheet will be submitted soon. NIA has been given time until August
to investigate the cases.
Wahabi influence is said to be growing in
northern districts of the state like Malappuram and Kozhikode, where radical
groups with steady support from countries like Saudi Arabia are making their
voices heard.
- WRITER'S EMAIL: shahina@tehelka.Com
