Module had link with Baghdadi men

The NIA and other central security agencies arrested 14 people on Friday and Saturday for allegedly planning to carry out attacks ahead of Republic Day. 

Those arrested included Mudabbir Mushtaq Shaikh, the self-styled ‘Ameer’ of ‘Janood-ul-Khalifa-eHind’ (Army of Caliph of India), the Indian wing of ISIS. He was the man behind raising the outfit after earlier attempts by the global terror organisation to set up its base in the sub-continent failed, official sources said. 

Shaikh, who assumed the title of ‘Ameer’, supposedly under instructions from Baghdadi himself, was active on some of the social networking sites. Manager, product development, for a sports company, he was under surveillance of intelligence agencies for several months and was tracked down after he received money routed out of Turkey and Syria. 

The idea behind setting up the terror group in India was to extend Baghdadi’s fearsome ‘Caliphate’, sources said. Within a short span the group established a complete chain of command with Shaikh being the Ameer, while Rizwan Ali, a resident of Kushi Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, was its Naib-Ameer (deputy Chief). Mangalore resident Najmul Huda was appointed ‘Ameer-eAskari’ (batallion commander) and Mohammed Nafees Khan of Bihar, who was  arrested from Hyderabad, was the group’s ‘Ameer-e-Wyulat’ (head of finance), sources said.