NIA Looking For Six More IS Sympathizers In Telangana District

NIA officials are sniffing around in Adilabad district for six men who they suspect are sympathizers of Islamic State.

    Adilabad, which is proximate to Nanded in Maharashtra, is said to have become a hub for IS activity.

    Security sources claim that Adilabad has had some links with previous cases of militant activity

National Investigation Agency officials are sniffing around in Adilabad district of Telangana for six men who they suspect are sympathizers of Islamic State. This follows the arrest in Hyderabad of six alleged IS operatives, including Naimathullah Hussaini, the self-styled chief of the 'IS Hyderabad chapter.

The investigators believe that IS sympathisers may have sneaked into Adilabad, which is proximate to Nanded in Maharashtra, which is said to have become a hub for IS activity. Accordingly security agencies have set their antennae up.

According to reliable sources, after the arrest of the IS operatives in Hyderabad, the NIA came to know about six more sympathisers in Mancherial and rushed a team of officials to that town. "Their antecedents are being inquired into including the possibility of their infiltration from another place," a source said.

"We have information that IS operatives undergo basic training in Nanded district, migrate to other states and indoctrinate young people, particularly unemployed young men, paying them Rs 5,000 per month to join their group," sources said.

Adilabad has always been a shelter zone for Maoists when the movement was at its peak. Now terror activities too are starting to increase in the district. Security sources claim that Adilabad has had some links with previous cases of militant activity. In 2002, one militant Azam Ghori is said to have taken shelter in Mandamarri and then shifted to Mancherial and Srirampur, moving closely with Singerani workers. He was tracked down and killed in an 'encounter' in the same year.

Courtesy: The New Indian Express