Palakkad/ Kerala: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday conducted raids at three places in Kerala after getting inputs on the case pertaining to a youth from the state joining the terror outfit Islamic State (ISIS). According to initial reports, search operations were conducted on three locations in the state – two in Kasargod and one in Palakkad. The three held are believed to have been in touch with some of the people who left the state to join the international terror group.

The probe agency has informed that three people are currently being questioned. “These persons are suspected to have links with some of the accused in the ISIS Kasaragod module who had exited India to join ISIS,” an NIA statement said. The probe agency is also investigating if these people have any links with those involved in the April 21 suicide bombings in Sri Lanka which killed as many as 360 people.

“NIA officials recovered a number of devices such as mobile phones, phone SIM cards, memory chips, pen drives and handwritten notes in Arabic and Malayalam from their possession. DVDs of religious speeches and books authored by controversial preacher Dr Zakir Naik were also found during the raids,” NIA said in a press release.

The case, known as the ISIS Kasaragod Module case, came into the picture last year when NIA busted an ISIS module in Kasaragod and arrested a 25-year-old youth named Habeeb Rahman. Further investigation in the matter revealed that a group of 14 people had left India or their workplaces in Middle-East Asia, in 2016, to join ISIS.

The houses raided by NIA in Kasaragod today belonged to Aboobackar Siddique and Ahammad Arafath. The probe agency has issued a notice asking them to appear at its Kochi office for further questioning on Monday. The identity of the third suspect is yet to be confirmed.