The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested an alleged key Islamic State terror conspirator after he arrived at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport from Nairobi in Kenya.
Arafath Ali had been absconding since 2020, and has been operating from abroad to promote the anti-India terror agenda of the banned outfit. He was taken into custody the moment he landed at the airport. He has been accused of indulging in Islamic State propaganda activities and planning terrorist acts, according to the NIA.
The agency, through a statement, said Arafath Ali was a resident of Shivamogga in Karnataka. He was allegedly involved in “the identification, radicalisation and recruitment of gullible Muslim youth into the ISIS fold while working from abroad”.
Arafath Ali is a native of Thirthahalli in Shivamogga. He had moved to Dubai after completing a diploma in electronics at Sahyadri Polytechnic College in Thirthahalli, where his father Ahmed Bava, runs a beeda shop in front of a hotel.
In the Shivamogga terror conspiracy case, one accused named Mohamed Shariq had been on his way to plant a pressure cooker bomb at Kadri Manjunatha Temple (Mangaluru) when the improvised explosive device exploded accidentally in an auto rickshaw, it is alleged.
It is alleged that Arafath Ali had funded another accused Mohammed Shariq to carry out acts of terror. He had reportedly transferred money to Shariq a couple of times.
The agency alleged that Arafat Ali was in regular 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, he was also responsible for the two Mangaluru graffiti cases of 2020 wherein, at his instance, accused Mohamed Shariq and Maaz Muneer Ahmed had written “Don’t force us to Invite Lashkar-e-Taiba and Taliban to deal with Sanghis and Manvedis #Lashkar Zindabad” on the walls, it said.
