Key ISIS Terror Conspirator Nabbed By NIA At Delhi Airport

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday (14 September) arrested a key ISIS terror conspirator upon his arrival at the airport in India from Nairobi, Kenya.

"Arafath Ali was taken into custody the moment he landed at the Airport, marking a major breakthrough for the NIA in its efforts to uncover and foil the conspiracy of foreign-based modules of IS / ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) to carry out acts of terror and violence in India," the agency said in a statement.

The agency added that Arafath had been absconding since 2020, when he was accused of indulging in ISIS propaganda activities and planning for terrorist acts.

"He had since then been operating from abroad to promote the anti-India terror agenda of the IS," it said.

According to the agency, the investigations have revealed that Arafath Ali, a resident of Shivamogga district of Karnataka, was actively involved in the identification, radicalisation and recruitment of gullible Muslim youth into the ISIS fold while working from abroad.

"As part of the Shivamogga terror conspiracy case, one accused, named Mohamed Shariq, had been on his way to plant a pressure cooker IED at Kadri Manjunatha Temple, Mangaluru, when the IED exploded accidentally in the auto rickshaw. Arafat Ali had been in active touch with the other accused persons in the case, and was actively involved in the planning and execution of the conspiracy," the NIA said.

According to the anti-terror probe agency, Ali was also responsible for the two Mangaluru wall graffiti incidents in 2020, when, on his instructions, Mohamed Shariq and Maaz Muneer Ahmed, wrote the message "Don't force us to invite Lashkar-e-Taiba and Taliban to deal with Sanghis and Manvedis #Lashkar Zindabad".

Investigations against Arafath and other suspects in the case are continuing, the agency added.