All the 14 were produced in local courts in their respective states for a transit remand to the national Capital where they would be questioned extensively by a team of NIA and central security agencies, a Home Ministry spokesman said.
Giving details of the persons arrested by it, the NIA said four were from Karnataka. 33-year-old Syed Mujahid is a resident of Tumkur, Asif Ali alias Arman Saani (21), Suhail Ahmed alias Sohail alias Hafes Saab (23) and Muhammed Abdul Ahad alias Bade Amir alias Sulaiman (46) are
from Bengaluru.
Others arrested have been identified as 20-year-old Mohammad Aleem (from Lucknow), 33-year-old Mohammed Obedullah Khan alias Obaid alias Talha and 24-year-old Abu Anas, both from Hyderabad, and Mohammad Hussain Khan alias Jamil (36), resident of Mazgaon, Mumbai, the NIA said.
Those arrested on Saturday included Rizwan Ali, self-styled Naib-Ameer (deputy chief) of “Janood-ul-Khalifa-e-Hind” (Army of Caliph in India), a terror group created with ideologies similar to that of ISIS.
The multi-city raids, which took place in six states, continued till the wee hours of Saturday when Imran Mozzam Khan Pathan of Aurangabad in Maharashtra was arrested.
Meanwhile, three people were seen moving suspiciously near an Army cantonment in Sherpur on Saturday, after which Punjab Police and Army jointly launched a search operation to trace them. Their pictures were picked up by CCTV cameras installed near the cantonment early this (Saturday) morning, police said.