IS terror conspirator Arafath Ali has been wanted by the NIA and has been off radar since 2020 after escaping to Nairobi in Kenya.
The terror conspirator, identified as Arafath Ali, had been absconding since 2020 and is accused of indulging in propaganda activities and planning terror attacks on behalf of the Islamic State group. (Representational image/Creative Commons)
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials, on Thursday, 14 September, nabbed a key absconding Islamic State (IS) terror conspirator — a resident of Shivamogga district of Karnataka — when he arrived at the New Delhi Airport from Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.
The terror conspirator, identified as Arafath Ali, had been absconding since 2020 and is accused of indulging in propaganda activities and planning terror attacks on behalf of the Islamic State group.
Arafath Ali was taken into custody the moment he landed at the airport, marking a breakthrough for the NIA in its efforts to uncover and foil the conspiracy of foreign-based modules of the IS group to carry out acts of terror and violence in India, stated a release from the probe agency.
SHIVAMOGGA ISIS TERROR ACCUSED ARAFATH ALI NABBED BY NIA AT DELHI AIRPORT, TAKEN INTO CUSTODY ON ARRIVAL FROM NAIROBI, WAS ABSCONDING SINCE 2020 pic.twitter.com/eQxSuISi12
— NIA India (@NIA_India) September 14, 2023
Arafath had been operating from abroad since 2020 to promote the anti-India terror agenda of the IS group, said the NIA.
The agency’s investigations revealed that Arafath, a resident of the Shivamogga district of Karnataka, was actively involved in the identification, radicalisation, and recruitment of gullible Muslim youth into the Islamic State group while working from abroad.
As part of the Shivamogga terror conspiracy case, one accused named Mohammed Shariq was on his way in an auto rickshaw to plant a pressure cooker IED at the Kadri Manjunatha Temple in Mangaluru in November last year when the device became activated inside the cooker and exploded accidentally.
Before the blast, the Shivamogga District Police had been looking for one Shariq over his alleged involvement in “anti-national activities” and suspected connection to banned terrorist organisations, including the Islamic State group.
Shariq was also named as one of the two conspirators in the 2020 Mangaluru graffiti case, in which pro-terror graffiti appeared at two places in the coastal Karnataka city.
He was also believed to be the main conspirator behind the stabbing of a youth named Prem Singh in the Shivamogga city.
Investigations revealed Arafath Ali had been actively in touch with the other accused persons in the case, and was actively involved in the planning and execution of the conspiracy.
According to NIA investigations, Arafath was also responsible for the two Mangaluru graffiti cases.
Two of the accused — identified as Mohamed Shariq and Maaz Muneer Ahmed — had, on his directions, written “Don’t force us to invite Lashkar-e-Taiba and Taliban to deal with Sanghis and Manvedis #Lashkar Zindabad” on the walls of a structure in the coastal district.
Investigations against Arafath and other suspects in the case were underway, the NIA release stated.
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