Making further breakthroughs in the probe regarding the Isis module busted in Hyderabad, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) today arrested two people who are believed to have raised funds for the five suspected terrorists who were held recently.
The NIA had, during a raid organised on June 29, arrested five alleged militants and seized 40 mobile phones, laptops, a pen drive, 32 sim cards, Rs. 15 lakh in cash and several nitrate-based explosives. The cache is believed to have been financed by the two men arrested today, identified as Yasir Niamatullah and Athaullah Rehman, according to ANI.
According to earlier reports, the suspected terrorists — Mohd Iliyas Yazdani, 24, Muzaffar Hussain Rizwan, 29, Fahad, 31, and Habeeb Mohd and Mohd Ibrahim Yazdani, both 32 years old, were hatching a plan to plant beef in temples in Hyderabad and spark riots in the city during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Investigators also revealed that they found maps suggesting that they were possibly planning to strike at certain police stations in the city.
The group of Isis sympathisers, which also included a computer engineer, were thought to have pledged allegiance to the terror outfit's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, through their handler Shafi Armar. The latter had reportedly assured the group of five that he would send their 'pledge of allegiance' in the form of 'Baya' to the "Caliph of Islamic State" that was signed, scanned and emailed by the five members, according to the Indian Express.
The group leader, Ibrahim Yazdani, and his brother Iliyas Yazdani, had made two unsuccessful attempts to reach Syria, via Greece. Ilyas Yazdani was in touch with his handler abroad using a secure encrypted mail: tutanota.com, according to the New Indian Express.
