BENGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Internal Security Division (ISD), Karnataka police, on Saturday arrested a software engineer for alleged links to the banned terror outfit - al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) - from Bengaluru.
According to sources, Mohammed Arif (40) from Uttar Pradesh was allegedly “active on social media and was in contact with the Taliban and al Qaeda.” They said that Arif was reportedly planning to leave India to go to Syria via Iran on March 10 and had even bought tickets. Arif is married and is living in Bengaluru with his wife and their two children.
The NIA and ISD, in a joint operation, held Arif from his rented house in Manjunath Layout, 1st Main,
5th Cross, Thanisandra Main Road, Bengaluru, and seized his passport, air tickets, laptop and incriminating documents. “He is being questioned by the agencies,” said the sources.
The NIA in an official release confirmed that it is “probing two suspects in a terror conspiracy case, one in Bengaluru and the other in Palghar in Maharashtra, with the active help of ISD and local police.”
The NIA added that “inputs had revealed that these two suspects had contact with foreign-based online handlers affiliated to proscribed terrorist organisations over encrypted communication platforms. They were involved in a conspiracy to radicalise youth over social media platforms.”