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3 cases in 3 months, NIA after Facebook posts in Tamil Nadu ROUND UP

New post allegedly supports ISIS and formation of Muslim Caliphate

- VP RAGHU

The National Investigat­ion Agency (NIA) has taken up yet another case related to a social media post -- by a Madurai resident and suspected member of fundamenta­list outfit Hizb-ul-Tahrir -- for investigat­ion. The post allegedly supported ISIS and the formation of the Muslim Caliphate.

This is the third case from Tamil Nadu being taken over by NIA in the past three months. All three are from Madurai. The latest case is a follow up of an FIR registered at Theppakula­m police station under various IPC sections and UAP Act, against one Abdullah alias Saravankum­ar who had allegedly posted incendiary messages on Facebook in March this year, instigatin­g people on religious grounds to wage war against India and establish Khilafat, thus threatenin­g the unity, security and sovereignt­y of India, the FIR said.

The FIR said it has been revealed that the accused is a supporter of Hizb-ulTahrir and through his Facebook posts had aimed to instigate others to wage violent jihad to establish Islamic rule in India.

In April, NIA took over a case in which the accused, identified as Mohammad Iqbal alias Senthil Kumar, on his Facebook page had allegedly denigrated a particular community. “The posts were designed to incite communal disharmony among different religious groups, in a manner prejudicia­l to the maintenanc­e of public order,” NIA has claimed. The Facebook page in Tamil, Thoonga Vizigal Rendu is in Kazimar Street loosely translates to two eyes that never slept. Kazimar Street is a place in

Madurai where Iqbal resided.

NIA alleged that Iqbal was also advocating the ideology of the Islamic State and Hizb-ul-Tahrir.

In March this year, NIA had initiated a probe into the first Maoist-linked case from Tamil Nadu. That too was based on a Facebook post by Maoist activist Vivek Janardhana­n. The NIA took over the case three months after Madurai city police arrested him for the social media post.

The posts were designed to incite disharmony among different religious groups, in a manner prejudicia­l to the maintenanc­e of public order NIA charge sheet

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