B’lore-Kozhikode new terror corridor of south

KOZHIKODE: The arrest of Yahya Khan alias Kammukutty in Bangalore has once again shown that Kozhikode-Bangalore is becoming the new terror corridor of south India.

Muhammad Fahd, a Pak national who was arrested in Bangalore for suspected links with Islamic extremists last year, also had connections with Kozhikode.

He stayed here for months and had even tried to procure an Indian passport. His area of operation included Mysore which is on the Kozhikode-Bangalore route.

There are reports that extremists have established hideouts in the jungles of Wayanad district, also on this route, where they give arms training to cadres.

The areas close to the Karnataka border in north Kerala have become hotspots of extremist activity.

Places like Uppala, Manjeswaram and Naya Bazar in Kasargod district continue to be volatile with sporadic clashes of a communal colour.

The activities of the Muslim extremists at places like Belthangady, Bantwal and Bajpe in Karnataka spill over to Kerala in the border areas.

It is the attempt by SIMI activists to resurface that gives a new twist to the extremist activity in Kerala and Karnataka.

After the ban imposed in 2001, SIMI activists regrouped in three categories: the pro-Saudi group, the pro-Iran group and those who want to tread a different path.

Disappointed by the activities of the existing Islamic extremist groups, the independent group wanted to make its presence felt in south India.

The leadership of this group believes that established Islamist organisations have become mainstream parties and have lost their commitment to Islamic ideals.

Contrary to the popular belief that extremists are misled uneducated youth, the new recruits have an impressive academic background.

It is not unemployment but commitment to ideology that drives them to the these outfits.

Many IT professionals from Kerala who have landed in Bangalore are reportedly working for different extremist outfits.

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