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Even as intelligence agencies absolved Mohammad Niyaz, an Indian arrested in France on May 10, from any terrorist links, Home minister P Chidambaram contradicted them on Monday, asserting that he had "radical inclination" from an early age and associated with the banned Students Islamic Movement of India.
Describing him as a trained activist who has been on the Indian intelligence radar for over a long time, Chidambaram told mediapersons that Niyaz, a mechanical engineering hailing from his Tamil Nadu state, was well-acquainted with technology and had joined SIMI when he was 21.
Asked if it breaks the myth of non-involvement of Indian Muslims in the global jihadi activities, Chidambaram admitted the existence of homegrown terrorist modules. "We have traced and busted some homegrown terror modules. The Pune bomb blast was traced to a homegrown module," he said.
Asserting not to believe any reports yet, that Niyaz had recruited any Indians for jihadi activities, Chidambaram said he had focussed on French citizens of African origins, mostly from Turkey and Morocco.
"He had built a nucleus of like-minded persons of French nationals of African origin and was recruiting them for terror activities in Afghanistan-Pakistan region," he said.
Earlier, intelligence agencies had stated that they had found nothing "alarming or suspicious" against Niyaz, who had visited India some six months back to meet his mother in Madurai. They further stated that he had no links with any Indian terrorist organisation.
France has said that Niyaz was being investigated for his contacts in Pakistan and for allegedly scouting recruits for the Al Qaeda. Chidambaram said that the government has not yet applied for consular access, but was in touch with the French government over the arrest.
Niyaz was among the seven held by French authorities earlier this month for terror links, even though the French government refrained from linking them with any specific plan to carry out attacks.
He was arrested from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on May 10 on his arrival from Algeria, and a day later other six were held from different areas in Paris.
After his arrest, French Interior minister Claude Gueant had described Niyaz as a man with high level of technical training. He was working as a software professional in France and was the main target of the raids which resulted in the arrest of the seven men.