Intelligence agencies are keeping a close watch on Maldivians arriving here following the crisis in the island nation, anticipating the possibility of sleeper cells of Maldivian terror outfit ‘Jammat-e-Muslimeen’ getting activated in the state.
“The JeM, still active, is remaining low-key for the moment. We are taking all efforts to verify the details of those who come in here from Maldives," sources in the intelligence network told Deccan Chronicle.
An existing bilateral agreement with Maldives to permit its residents to stay in India without a visa for 90 days provides the group easy transit to the state, sources said.
Maldivian terror outfits' links with Kerala was first noticed in 2007 with the arrest of a key operative by the name Asif Ibrahim.
He had told investigators the planning for the Male Sultan Park blast of September 2007, executed by JeM linked to the Lashkar-e-Toiba, was done in the state.
He had also confessed he procured arms and funds from Kerala and smuggled them out to the Maldives through the sea route.
Another operative called Inas Moosa had visited the state before the Sultan Park bombing.
There was no trace of this man till today. All that the intelligence agencies know is that Moosa had come down to Thiruvananthapuram and met with a couple of operatives before the Sultan Park attack.
The sources said JeM is strong ideologically and capable of launching sea-borne attacks, probably the toughest form of terror the country would face.