Zakir Naik speeches inspired majority of 127 held for IS links: NIA

The Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh was trying to spread its tentacles across India and a list of 125 suspects have been shared with different states, National Investigation Agency chief Y C Modi said on Monday.

Addressing a meeting of chiefs of the anti terrorism squads, Modi said the JMB has spread its activities in states like Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala in the guise of Bangladeshi immigrants.

"The NIA has shared with states concerned a list of 125 suspected activists who have close links with the JMB leadership," he said.

Giving details of various operational theatres, Inspector General of the NIA, Alok Mittal however said the list, which was shared with the states, contains 130 suspects.

He said from 2014 to 2018, the JMB has set up 20-22 hideouts in Bengaluru and tried to spread its bases in South India.

"The JMB even conducted a trial of rocket launchers in the Krishnagiri hills along the Karnataka border," he said.

Mittal said the JMB was keen to attack Buddhists temples to take revenge for the plight of Rohingiya Muslims in Myanmar.

He said the JMB had started its activities first in 2007, initially in West Bengal and Assam, and then in other parts of the country.

"During the investigation, it was found that the 130 activists were in regular contact with the JMB leadership," he said.

Referring to other jihadi activities, Mittal said so far 127 people have been arrested in the country for their links with the Middle-East terror group Islamic State and majority of them have confessed that they were influenced by the video speeches of Mumbai-born Islamic preacher and terror accused Zakir Naik and mastermid of the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka Moulvi Zahran Hashmi.

He said during the investigation into the terror financing cases related to Jammu and Kashmir, it has come to the light that there were systemic weaknesses in the J&K Bank as it was not following the KYC rules, was giving unsecured loans and had no systemic data.

"The terrorists and their sympathisers have taken the advantage of the systemic weaknesses in the J&K Bank and was misusing the banking system," he said.

Referring to the attempts to revive terrorism in Punjab, Mittal said the banned terror group Khalistan Liberation Front has been conspiring to disrupt the law and order and communal harmony in in the state with the active support from across the border and and with funding from countries like UK, Australia and France.