Jihad Watch Kerala is a database of recent instances of Jihadi terrorism, political and cultural Islamist activity in Kerala. Press Ctrl+D to bookmark us.
A Social media post from the days legal action began in March
1.92 acres of land that is temple property was encroached by one Alawi Koya and parties who had constructed 5 houses in the area. The land is now reduce to a mere 17 cents. It is reportedly done with help from Panchayat office who had assisted in altering land records. A case was filed against the encroachers in the Kerala High Court that ordered a halt on construction activities in the said property. Even as the order stands, they have resumed construction of a wall. The construction material was laid on the path to the temple completely blocking it. The temple committee president who questioned the 300 strong group was beaten up and is hospitalised.
NIA arrests three more following the capture of Riyas Aboobacker. Mohammed Faisal, Aboobacker Siddiq and Ahmed Arafat are the arrested.
10 Designated Suicide bombers: Reported May 8
Through the interrogation of Riyas Aboobacker NIA has found that there were 10 designated suicide bombers in a terror cell that was targeting kerala. Besides Malayalees, it included Kashmiri separatists who had come to Kerala posing as non-Kashmiri merchants. They are reportedly camped in the Fort Kochi area. There is no record of migrant workers in Kerala so it is difficult to track such suspects. NIA is also investigating in Perumbavoor, Kollam, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kannur and Kasargod.
Saudi arrests two with Kerala Links: Reported May 8
Arrested in Saudi Arabia, The brother in-Law of Zahran Hashim (lead SriLankan bomber and NTJ Leader) Maulana Rila and his friend Shahnawaj revealed their links with Kerala. They had role in the ISIS recruitment in Kasargod. It also seems they had links with the now arrested by NIA Riyas Aboobacker of Palakkad who had admitted to be part of a sleeper cell planning terror attacks in Kerala.
ISIS recruits stationed in Malabar:
Reported May 8 ISIS recruits do not end with the ones who moved to ISIS territories in Syria and Afghanistan. Many more remain in Kerala sleeper cells. Kasargod is the most fertile recruitment ground in the region. Jihadi ideas are sowed and terror aspirants are harvested via whatsapp groups like Expose Kerala, Message Kerala and Gold Dinar among other social media platforms.
Explosive material called Mother of Satan in Kerala: Reported May 8
The interrogation of suspects from Kasargod by NIA has revealed that the same explosive material used in the Sri Lankan church bombings was imported to and stored in various locations in Kerala. Triacetone triperoxide(TATP) nicknamed Mother of Satan is a chemical compound widely used by terrorists to make IEDs.
Gulf Malayalees under scanner. Reported May 9
Malayalee migrant workers in Gulf countries are under NIA scanner investigating ISIS recruitment. NIA arrested Mohammed Faisal from Kollam who says Malayalees go to ISIS territories from other Gulf countries. NIA is coordinating efforts through embassies to bring suspects from these countries to India for processing.
Pakistan aid for Terror in Kerala: Reported May 10
NIA has revealed that besides Kashmiri Islamic separatists, the Islamists in Kerala too are receiving moral and monetary support from Pakistan. It is reported that Pak agencies had instigated and funded protests in Kerala especially the 16 April 2018 Islamist harthal and rioting in the name of Katua rape victim. Malayalees are being recruited to Pak terror organisations like Jaish e Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen. Arrested Riyas Aboobacker and Mohammed Faisal said that Malayalees had gone to Pakistan via Qatar on visiting visas. Kalamassery bus burning accused Mohammed Sabir among other UAPA accused are sheltered in a Pakistan/PoK terror camps. Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies also mention radicals from India especially Kerala joining ISIS.
Muslim preachers under scanner: Reported May 10
26 Muslim preachers from Kerala and Tamilnadu are under NIA investigation concerning radicalisation and terror recruitment following the Sri Lanka church attacks. These preachers are involved in promoting Sharia law, communal violence, organised conversion and inciting hate against other religions. Investigation is centred around Mosques and madrassas promoting Jihadi ideas.
For raids, NIA avoiding jihadi infiltrated Kerala Police. Reported May 12
Terror groups get information from within the Kerala Police force. It was customary for NIA to share information with Kerala Police intelligence before raids but continued leaks tipping off Jihadi elements has frustrated the NIA who has decided to go at it alone more specifically after a secret raid in Kasargod had to be called off after the plan was leaked. NIA has also mentioned the police inaction on many warnings and precautions given to them in order to counter terror threats. Suspected police officers are being investigated. There was also an earlier report of Islamist groups within the police force and an Islamist whatsapp group called Pacha velicham (green light) was found after some Muslim police staff suspiciously lobbied for airport duty.
Raids, Investigations and other developments in the week following the (29 April 2019) arrest of Riyas Aboobacker who plotted suicide attacks in Kerala. Security heightened in Kerala. A Kollam connection of Riyas found. Sri Lanka explosives possibly sourced from Kerala. Weapons and Bombs discovered in various places.
Secret meetings in Kochi
NIA is trying to find people who took part in meetings held by Riyas in various places in Kochi including Fort Kochi and a mall near Marine-Drive. Riyas has refused to reveal their details.
Three cities on alert
Even after the arrest of Riyas there is still risk of attacks by his associates who are yet to be caught. Security has been stepped up at Kochi, Trivandrum and Kozhikode. Thrissur Pooram, Kodungalloor Church, Kochi Marine-Drive and Trivandrum Railway station were the main spots targeted by his group.
Raid in Kollam
Home of a youth from Chatthinamkulam in Kollam was raided by NIA after receiving information from Riyas. This person is currently outside the country. He is accused in more than 8 criminal offences including attempted murder. NIA has located his whereabouts outside India and will question him there.
Raids in Alappuzha
Alappuzha is also on high alert being a coastal district. Vehicles, houseboats and nearby railway stations were searched.
Raids in Tamilnadu offices of SDPI / PFI
In wake of Srilankan attacks, SDPI and National Tawheed Jamaat (NTJ) are raided in Tamilnadu. Information collected from Riyas has led to a raid in Thiruchirappalli (Trichy).
Explosives from Kerala
Explosives used in Sri Lanka attacks seems to have been sourced from Kerala and Tamilnadu and accumulated over a long period of time. It is reported that training camps for bomb-making were also held in Kerala and Tamilnadu.
Weapons found in abandoned car.
A white Tata Nano found abandoned in Tanur, Malappuram raised suspicions. On search police found Machetes and steel rods in the trunk. The car is registered to a Shafeeque. Tanur was a hotspot for violence on the day of Islamist hartal related to Asifa case.
Bombs found in Nadapuram
13 pipe bombs and 3 steel bombs were found in a plot owned by a Musa in Nadapuram, Kozhikode. Nadapuram is known for political and communal violence and bomb incidents involving CPM and IUML.
A message in a public channel taunting the Kafirs and intelligence agencies.
Most Islamist Telegram groups and channels of Kerala are private but as on 19 03 2019 an IS affiliate channel @keralaislam was broadcasting publicly. The messages were forwarded from individuals and private channels such as Al Mujahir and Silver Coin among others.
These included messages from the Islamic state but in Malayalam in the form of text messages, PDFs and audio recordings. Among these, most notable was the "The book of Jihad" by Ibn Nuhas translated to Malayalam as Vijayathinte Vathil - Valinte Thanalil.
Audio messages like the above from IS recruiter from Kasargod, Rashid Abdulla currently stationed in Afghanistan were also found published in this channel.
A new Jihadi whatsapp group among young Muslims in Kerala police has surfaced. The now deleted group was named Pacha Velicham 2.0, a second iteration of the original Pacha Velicham that was reported in January. While the first was centred in Adoor, this one was centred around Ernakulam and Kottayam. Two Rural SI who were the group leaders were identified by NIA as radicals. One was suspended and the other is under watch.
The group was deleted immediately before the murder of Abhimanyu by SDPI goons. The members of the group are suspected to be the ones who leaked information about police sweeps in order to help the culprits escape.
This report from Janam TV says that in the State police intelligence, posts under the ADGP have a disproportionately high number of recruits from a certain community.
Three months since the alleged rape and murder of a Muslim girl by Hindus in Kathua, Kashmir, there was an campaign in the mainstream and social media against the crime. But it spiralled out of control on 16 April 2018 when peaceful protests organised via social media by all communities in Kerala got hijacked by Jihadis. The hartal was worst in the Malabar region. Takbir slogans were raised, police were pelted with stones, roads blocked and only Muslims allowed to pass, Hindu owned shops were trashed and looted. The looting of K.R Bakers in Tanur earned the hartal the nickname "Onnam bakery lahala"(first bakery mutiny).
This hartal showcased the effectiveness of social media in organising sudden protests. Although claimed to be spontaneous, this hartal is suspected to be a planned rehearsal or a "testing the waters" for an Islamist uprising in the future.
Even though many political parties had backed the hartal, the most notable aspect was that the active and violent ones were all Muslims and they acted as one across party lines. SDPI, Youth League amd DYFI workers were seen acting together.
ISIS link
The first connection of IS came in the form of online posters with the name Aadhil AX inciting protests for the victim. This ID was the IS handler for Kerala, Shajeer Mangalasseri Abdulla. Audio clips of Rashid Abdulla, another IS handler and recruiter that incited jihad were also circulated. It is assumable that the hartal was hijacked by his followers in Kerala who operate in Jihadi front groups like SDPI and PFI.
Police Response
The response of the police was quite lacking. They were caught completely unaware and later admitted that there was an intelligence failure. In many places the police remained helpless and suffered stone-pelting, assault and man-handling. There was an attempt to drag a policeman into a mosque to create a false event of police excess towards their faith. Riot police had to be deployed in many places and lathi charges were carried out.
Around 1500 who directly took part in the violence were arrested but the investigation into how this hartal turned violent, was botched from the beginning. The police arrested five non-Muslim admins of a Whatsapp group created to organise the peaceful hartal while the Islamists who hijacked it escaped. With the LDF in power, there is a possibility that the police investigation was subverted to help the Left-Islamist agenda.
Media Coverage
Except for a few Hindu right wing media groups, the mainstream media tried their best to cover up the Islamist violence and destruction. They had used terms like Whatsapp hartal and Social Media hartal to describe it instead of Islamist hartal or anti-Hindu hartal. With the arrested five being non-Muslim and one of them being a low-level Shiv-Sena activist, the Left-Islamist media immediately switched to blaming the RSS for planning the hartal. Even the Chief-Minister plus Home-Minister Pinarayi Vijayan described it as Whatsapp hartal by RSS, in the state assembly.
