The members of the group had conspired and conducted preparations to wage war against India by forming the terrorist gang Ansarulla, the NIA said in a statement.

The members and their associates had collected funds and made preparations to carry out terrorist attacks in India, with the intention to establish Islamic rule in the country, it said.

The raids were conducted against Syed Bukhari, a resident of Chennai; Hassan Ali Yunusmaricar, a native of Nagapattinam; Mohammed Yusuffudeen Harish Mohamed, a native of Nagapattinam and others.

During searches at the house and office of Bukhari, Hassan Ali and Harish Mohammed, nine mobiles, 15 SIM cards, seven memory cards, three laptops, five hard discs, six pen drives, two tablets and three CDs/ DVDs, besides documents including magazines, banners, notices, posters and books were seized by the NIA.

The three accused were being questioned by the investigation agency.

The NIA registered cases against them on July 9 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.