A plot to establish Islamic rule in India through operatives in Tamil Nadu and the UAE has been busted by the National Investigation Agency. 
The NIA named 16 Islamic radicals from Tamil Nadu and said that they were conducting religious classes, brainwashing youth and had planned on establishing Islamic rule in India. The case is known as the Tamil Nadu Ansarullah case.

A pro-Jihadi group:

Some of the accused named by the NIA are Haris Mohammad, Meeran Ghani, Ahmed Azarudeen, Mohammad Afzar and Farook. All are residents of Tamil Nadu and have been charged with conspiracy.

These persons along with their associates in the UAE had formed a pro-Jihadi group or a jamaat. These persons met regularly in various locations in UAE as well as Tamil Nadu. The topics that were being discussed included Jihad and Khilafat. It was decided by these persons that the only way to establish Islamic rule in India was through violent Jihad.

Further these persons had also conducted religious classes. During these classes, it was decided to open modules of the Ansarullah in various parts of the country. They had planned on recruiting several Muslim youth, brainwash them and undertake violent Jihad.

The ISIS ideology:

Over the past year and a half the NIA conducted raids in several places across Tamil Nadu. It was found during the raids that the TN Ansarullah subscribed to the ISIS ideology. They were planning on promoting and propagating the ideology of the Islamic State in various parts of Tamil Nadu and rest of India.

NIA sources tell MyNation that these persons did not find it hard to propagate on behalf of the ISIS. The ideology of the ISIS and the concept of radical Islam is nothing new to Tamil Nadu. In fact the first known case of a person from India joining the ISIS was reported from Tamil Nadu. Haja Fakkruddin, a resident of Cuddalore had left India in 2014 and joined the ISIS in Syria.

The TN Ansarullah according to the NIA was only furthering the cause. They had however decided that they would carry out murders of Hindu leaders, strike at Temples in different parts of the country and disturb the social fabric of India.

Even during the search conducted at the residence of one Diwan Mujipeer, a resident of Pallivasal North Street, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, the NIA had found incriminating material relating to several Jihadi groups.

The raids also threw up information on the links between these persons and the Jihadis in Sri Lanka. Some of them were also in touch with Zahran Hashmi, the Colombo man responsible for the Easter Bombings.

The modus operandi:

While Kerala has been witnessing, radical Islamic Jihad for long, the case is no different in Tamil Nadu. The members of the TN module have also drawn inspiration from the likes of Abul Ala Maududi, the 20th century Islamic thinker.

Further, both modules in TN and Kerala also subscribe very seriously to the views of Anwar Al Awlaki and Abdul Raheem Green. International outfits such as the ISIS and Al-Qaeda framed their policies based on the messages these persons have sent out. All of them preached a very violent form of Islam and have concluded that Jihad is the only way forward.

The NIA has found plenty of material relating to these radical preachers both in Kerala as well as Tamil Nadu. 

Further, the modus operandi in both Kerala and Tamil Nadu are similar. These groups do not operate as the ISIS or Al-Qaeda. In Kerala, it is known as the Base Movement, while in TN it is the Ansarullah. They have affiliations with the Al-Qaeda and ISIS. These are basically the feeder modules for the international terror groups. This would mean that they would carry out attacks, fight violently for the establishment of the Caliphate, but in the name of these international groups. 

Intelligence Bureau officials explain that the reason why they operate as smaller groups and work towards a larger reach is because, international groups tend to come under the radar faster. The local outfits work in smaller groups, but manage to spread their message faster. They conduct terror or Jihad related meetings in the name of religious classes. Their modus operandi is also to infiltrate mosques and take over the administration and then preach a violent form of Jihad.

Radicalising abroad:

In most terror related cases, it was found that a large number of Muslims working abroad had been involved. Even in the TN Ansarullah case, the UAE link cropped up. The investigations conducted by the various agencies have found the foreign link on several occasions.

The ones abroad are the ones who do most of the planning. They send in a considerable amount of money to run modules in India. Further, they are in touch with rabid Islamic scholars and preachers in the Islamic nations. It is with their help they set the ideology for the Muslims in India, investigations have also found.

The latest chargesheet by the NIA in the TN case says that a considerable part of this criminal conspiracy to launch violent jihad in India was hatched in the UAE. It names Rafi Ahmed, Munthasir, Umar Barook,  Moideen Seeni Shahul Hameed, and Faizul Sharief as the UAE module members. All these persons have been deported to India now and are being probed by the NIA.

In the TN ISIS case, it had been found that a Singapore based operative had helped set up a module in Cudddalore. The Singapore based operative had first set up a chat group and spread the message of the ISIS through it. In no time a full-fledged module was set up in 2013, following which the radicalisation of the Muslim youth began. One very telling image put up by this group in 2014 went viral on the social media. The image showed a bunch of Muslim youth posing with ISIS t-shirts and merchandise. In fact Haja Fakkruddin was also part of this module.

What this module with the help of foreign Muslim elements did was spread the message of the ISIS across the state. And yes, the local establishment looked the other way until the NIA stepped in with a free hand to investigate.