Coimbatore : National Investigation Agency (NIA) today arrested a person on charges of recruiting youth and planning terrorist attacks in South India. Officials continued raids on the residences of three persons on the second day.

After carrying out searches at seven locations in the city yesterday, NIA detained six persons for questioning and arrested prime accused Mohammed Azaruddin, who is also accused of his association with Easter Sri Lankan church blast masterminded by Zahra Hashim.

Separately, officials from revenue and police departments began searches at the houses of Mohammed Hussain, Shahjahan and Hayatulla from as early as 4.30 am, police sources said.

NIA had registered cases against Mohammed Azharuddin, Azharuddin T, Sheik Hidyathullah, Aboobacker M, Sadham Hussain and Ibrahim alias Shahin for their involvement in recruiting youth and planning terrorist attacks in South India, especially Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The officials seized a number of devices ike mobile phones, laptops, pen drives and incriminating documents during the searches yesterday.

The intention of those detained was to recruit vulnerable youth into the IS/Daish for carrying out terrorist attacks in South India, NIA had said in a statement.

Mohammed Azarudeen was the leader of the module and had been maintainingthe Facebook page named ‘KhilafahGFX’, through which he had been propagatingthe ideology of IS/Daish, it said.

He was a Facebook friend of suicide bomber Zahran Hashim and other members of the module have also been sharing over social media radical contents attributed to Hashim.

The officials are likely to take Mohammed Azharurrin to Kochi with regard to the case and other five have been asked to appear before a court in Kochi, the sources added.