NIA arrests 9 suspected Al Qaeda operatives from Kerala, West Bengal
New Delhi/Kolkata: The NIA arrested nine suspected Al Qaeda operatives on Saturday after conducting simultaneous raids at several locations in Kerala and West Bengal, an official said.
The raids were conducted in the early hours at Ernakulam in Kerala and Murshidabad in West Bengal.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had learnt about an inter-state module of al-Qaeda operatives at various locations in India, including West Bengal and Kerala.
The group was allegedly planning to launch terror attacks at vital installations in the country with an aim to kill innocent people, the official said.
The NIA registered a case on September 11 and launched a probe. The agency arrested six accused from West Bengal and three from Kerala.
Murshid Hasan, Iyakub Biswas, Mosaraf Hossen from Ernakulam and Najmus Sakib, Abu Sufiyan, Mainul Mondal, Leu Yean Ahmed, Al Mamun Kamal and Atitur Rehman from Murshidabad were the accused arrested by the NIA.
“As per preliminary investigation, these individuals were radicalised by Pakistan-based Al-Qaeda terrorists on social media and were motivated to undertake attacks at multiple places including the National Capital Region. For this purpose, the module was actively indulging in fund raising and a few members of gang were planning to travel to New Delhi to procure arms and ammunition. These arrests have pre-empted possible terrorist attacks in various parts of the country,” the NIA said.
The agency claimed to have recovered “large quantity of digital devices, documents, jihadi literature, sharp weapons, country-made firearms, a locally fabricated body armour, articles and literature used for making home-made explosive devices” from the accused.
They will be produced before the courts concerned in Kerala and West Bengal for custody and further investigation, he added.
NIA Arrests Nine Al-Qaeda Terrorists from West Bengal and Kerala pic.twitter.com/qL7p4rR9lc
— NIA India (@NIA_India) September 19, 2020
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
