Karnataka police on Tuesday arrested a 20-year-old man suspected of having links to a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation. He was arrested from a village in Davangere district. He was later handed over to the Tumakuru police for further investigation.
The accused, identified as Suhail (20), is a native of Uttar Pradesh, police said. He has been living in Karnataka under the guise of a painter.
Police said that the arrest was carried out following inputs from the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Reports said that information related to terrorist activities was found on the suspect's WhatsApp account. He was allegedly in contact with several persons based in Pakistan.
The arrest comes weeks after two men were arrested from Tumakuru and Davangere districts on June 4 for allegedly maintaining contact through social media with a Pakistan-based individual and conspiring to carry out activities prejudicial to India's national security.
Confirming the arrest, Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge said a Uttar Pradesh native arrested was found to have been in contact with some Pakistanis.
The minister underlined further details would emerge only after the investigation is completed.
Kharge said preliminary findings indicated that the individual had come to Karnataka in search of work and that investigators had recovered information from his mobile phone, leading to his arrest.
"According to the preliminary investigation and the information available, that person from Uttar Pradesh had apparently come here in search of work. Some information has been detected from his mobile phone. So he's been arrested," Kharge told reporters in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
He said chats recovered from the mobile phone suggested that the accused had been in touch with some Pakistanis.
"It has emerged from the chats that he was in contact with some Pakistanis. But whether there has been any large-scale indoctrination or anything else, that will be known only after the investigation is completed. For now, he is in custody," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
