The NIA had earlier visited France once after questioning Subahani, who was arrested from Tamil Nadu last year.New Delhi: Did a Kerala man under National Investigation Agency's (NIA) custody know about the Paris terror attacks, killing over 100 people on November 13, 2015?
The premier investigating agency is now piecing together information about Subahani Haja Moideen, a suspected ISIS operative from Thodupuzha in Kerala's Idukki district, to zero in on his links with the terrorists who unleashed a bloodbath in Paris with a series of attacks at six places in the French city.
As part of its investigation, the NIA sleuths are all set to visit Paris again to find out Subahani's links with the Paris attackers. The NIA had earlier visited France once after questioning Subahani, who was arrested from Tamil Nadu last year. The investigating agency's team is likely to meet the Paris attackers who are in French police custody at present. Salah Abdeslam, 26-year-old French national who was born in Brussels, and Mohamed Abrini, another suspect believed to have links to the attack, are in French police custody now.
According to sources, Subahani knew the terrorists who attacked the bars and restaurants in Paris and the Le Bataclan theatre. Eleven black-clad gunmen wielding AK-47s and wearing suicide vests had stormed Stade de France during a match in progress, Le Bataclan during a concert by American rock band Eagles Of Death Metal and bars and restaurants, killing over 100 people.
According to agency reports, the attackers were heard mentioning Syria and Iraq during the massacre. The Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.
Sources said the French probe team is also likely to visit India to gather information from Subahani.
The NIA had informed the French security officials about Subahani and had visited Paris in April. More details about Subahani's connection with the terror module which planned the Pais attacks were not immediately known.
Subahani was arrested from Tamil Nadu in a crackdown by the NIA last year. He was reportedly radicalized and recruited by the ISIS through social media platforms and he had left Chennai for Istanbul in April 2015 on the pretext of performing 'Umrah'.
After reaching Istanbul, he crossed over to Iraq along with a group from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
According to sources, Subahani came in contact with the Paris attackers during this period.
Sources said the Kerala youth met Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian national and the masterminded behind the Paris attacks, and Salah Abdeslam, another key member of the terror module, during this trip. Abaaoud was killed in a police raid in Saint-Denis, northern Paris, a few days after the attack.
Abdeslam was arrested around four months after the strike. NIA sleuths are yet to ascertain whether Subahani met Omar Ismail Mostefai, Samy Amimour and Foued Mohamed-Aggad, who had stormed Le Bataclan theatre, killing 89 people. All the three Bataclan attackers were killed in retaliatory firing.
(With inputs from PTI)
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