NIA accused held at Cochin airport on return from Gulf

Kochi, May 7 (IANS) A day after a Qatar-based Keralite was named by the NIA as an accused based on information from arrested alleged Islamic State operative Riyaz Aboobacker, he was picked up by the agency from the Cochin airport on his return here on Tuesday.

Faizal hails from Oachira in Kollam district.

The National Investigation Agency, which had on Monday moved a special court here for custodial interrogation of Aboobacker - arrested in wake of the Easter Sunday carnage in Sri Lanka, also mentioned that it wants to include three more people, including Faizal, as accused in the case in which it has already arrested 21 persons.

Of the three, Faizal was working abroad, while the other two are based in Kasargode district.

The NIA had served a notice to Faizal to appear before them and as soon as he arrived at the airport, he was taken away for detailed questioning.

The special court had given the NIA five days custody of Aboobacker, arrested by the agency on April 29 from Palakkad and sent to judicial custody till May 29.

Aboobacker, according to the NIA, has confessed to creating plans to carry out a suicide attack in Kerala. He had been trying to recruit people in this connection and had allegedly got in touch with these three people.

The 29-year-old had earlier disclosed that he has been following speeches and videos of Zahran Hashim, a radical Tamil-speaking cleric who is believed to have masterminded the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka which left 253 people dead.

His arrest came after the agency unearthed the Kasargode module of the terrorist outfit in Kerala during multiple raids.