NIA Files chargesheet against the suspected killers of SSI Wilson
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), India’s premier anti-terror probe agency, submitted a charge sheet on Wednesday, June 12, to the special court handling NIA cases. The charge sheet implicates seven suspects in the murder of Special Sub-Inspector (SSI) Wilson, who was killed on January 8, 2020, in Kaliyakkavilai, Kanyakumari.
On the fateful night of January 8, SSI Wilson was on duty at a checkpoint on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border in Kaliyakkavilai when he was shot and stabbed to death by two armed assailants. The assailants, identified as Abdul Shameem and Y. Thowfeek, fled the scene after committing the crime. The Kanyakumari police quickly identified the suspects and arrested seven individuals: Abdul Shameem, 30; Taufiq, 27; Khaja Moideen, 53; Mehboob Pasha, 48; Ijaz Pasha, 46; Zafar Ali, 26; and Sikkabuddin, 36.
According to the police, Wilson was targeted by Islamic fundamentalists intending to create terror among the public and the police. Following public outcry, the case was handed over to the NIA, which uncovered the suspects’ connections to terrorist activities.
The investigation revealed that Khaja Moideen, a member of the Islamic State (ISIS)/Daesh, had radicalized Abdul Shameem and Thowfeek, recruiting them into his terrorist network. Moideen instructed Mehboob Pasha, Ijaz Pasha, and Jaffer Ali to procure illegal arms for their operations. The charge sheet detailed the elaborate plot, stating that the accused intended to wage jihad by attacking police and other establishments.
On January 8, the assailants traveled to Kaliyakkavilai and attacked SSI Wilson at around 9:20 PM. After the murder, they fled to Kerala, where they concealed the weapons used in the attack near the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation Bus Stand in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam. They then moved to Kozhikode, changed their appearances, and traveled to Maharashtra to live in disguise. On January 15, they were apprehended in Udupi, Karnataka.
The suspects were transported from prisons in Delhi, Bengaluru, and Salem under heavy police security and presented before Judge Illangovan. Following the court proceedings, they were escorted back to their respective jails.
The charge sheet underscores the NIA’s findings that the murder of SSI Wilson was part of a larger conspiracy orchestrated by Khaja Moideen and his associates to spread terror.
The NIA’s detailed investigation and subsequent charge sheet highlight the severity of the threat posed by these terrorist activities and the efforts undertaken by Indian authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.
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