New Delhi (Sputnik): India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed that it has arrested a Daesh* suspect who had plans to launch a suicide attack in the southern Indian state of Kerala similar to the ones witnessed in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, a report in the English newspaper Economic Times read.
READ MORE: Easter Sunday Attacks Targeted the West, Not Sri Lanka – Scholars
29-year-old Riyas Aboobacker, also known as Abu Dujana, has been arrested for conspiring to carry out Sri Lanka-type terror attacks in Kerala.
— ANI (@ANI) April 30, 2019
Aboobacker, a resident of Kerala's Palakkad city, is associated with the Kasaragod Module of Daesh.
— Bobins Abraham (@BobinsAbraham) April 30, 2019
During NIA's interrogation, Aboobacker purportedly admitted that he wanted to carry out a suicide attack in Kerala. He has reportedly admitted to be following speeches and videos of Zahran Hashim, the main accused in the Sri Lankan terror attack.
Aboobacker was also inspired by the speeches of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik.
READ MORE: Sri Lanka Asks India to Send Anti-Terror Commandos After Easter Blasts — Report
He revealed that he had links with Abdul Rashid Abdulla and had been following his speeches instigating people to carry out attacks in India.
Aboobacker also admitted that he was in contact with Abdul Khayoom, the main accused in the Valapattanam Daesh case.
The National Investigation Agency had earlier received inputs that some of the suspects were in touch with Abdul Rashid, and Abdul Khayoom who had migrated to Afghanistan and Syria.
Based on the inputs, the NIA carried out raids at three places in Kerala — two in Kasaragod and one in Palakkad district. Aboobacker was produced before a court in Kochi city on Tuesday.
*Daesh (aka IS/ISIS/Islamic State) is a terror group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
