Madurai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) booked six accused on charges of propagating ISIS ideology on social media.

The NIA sleuths on Saturday night (June 15) questioned a youth at his house in Villapuram in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

However, after the inquiry that went past midnight, the man was left at his home and the team from Kochi left Madurai.

Police officials who are privy to the incident said that a team of NIA sleuths came to the city in search of the youth, who has been studying in an Arabic College in Lucknow. The youth had come home on vacation.

Reports suggested that the NIA officials checked his mobile phone and sought an explanation from the youth regarding certain links with people on social media. However, after questioning, the youth was left at his residence.

The NIA has booked six people on charges of propagating ISIS ideology on social media, with the intention of recruiting vulnerable youth for carrying out terror attacks in south India.

This led to the NIA officials searching three premises in Madurai on suspicion that the residents there have contacts with the global terror outfit via social media.

On June 12, the NIA had conducted searches at seven locations in Coimbatore and seized incriminating material including books and documents from the houses and work places of six accused persons.

The NIA also said some of the accused persons and their associates were in touch with Zahran Hashim, the mastermind of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka that killed around 250 people, and his associates over social media, with the intention of furthering the objectives of the ISIS in India.

During the raids in Coimbatore on June 12, the NIA had arrested Mohammed Azarudeen, who is believed to a friend of Hashim on social media.