The recent arrest of six men linked to the Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HUT), an international Islamist outfit, in Chennai is a cause for concern for central agencies, according to top intelligence sources.
The six arrested in May are Hameed Hussain, who holds a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering and till 2021 had been teaching engineering in colleges, his father Ahmed Mansoor and brother Abdul Rehman, and three others — Mohammed Maurice, Khader Nawaz Sherif and Ahmed Ali. They have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
According to sources, they were involved in closed door meetings and were running Modern Essential Education Trust in Chennai to hold meetings and activities. This group is headed by a professor of Anna University.
“They were using social media platforms to promote videos and the idea of a Caliphate rule. One of the associates said on video that Muslims are the only ones who can live on earth and they are the best,” sources said.
“We are in the process of checking if they have more associates in India. These groups want the Sharia law to be imposed and were opposing the Lok Sabha elections. Although small, the group wants to expand their network by propagating Khilafat,” sources said.
Agencies feel they have suddenly started this outfit in India, which is banned in the United Kingdom (UK) and Bangladesh, possibly to find new ground. They are also probing their source of funding and handlers and if they have any plans to carry out any terror activities. “They are highly radicalised and are motivated by terror outfits,” a source said.
The six also published the HUT propaganda book and a copy was found with one of the arrested accused, Ahmed Masoor, sources said. This book also talks about the establishment of the Caliphate.
“This group was banned in the UK in January 2024. The publicity that they got with the ban probably made these six aware of this group and they, too, started to propagate Khilafat,” said sources.
The UK had compared the group to terror outfits Al Qaida and ISIS.
While the HUT doesn’t have many militants across the world, their members are highly radicalised, said sources.
With PTI Inputs
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