Probe agency charges one more accused in terror graffiti case

Probe agency charges one more accused in terror graffiti case

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Mar 09, 2024: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday filed a chargesheet against one more accused in the Shivamogga ISIS conspiracy case, related to the writing of pro-terrorist graffiti in Mangaluru, officials said on Friday.

 

The central anti-terror probe agency also filed additional charges against two others.

In its second supplementary chargesheet, the NIA has charged the accused, Arafath Ali, and filed additional charges against Mohammed Shariq and Maaz Muneer Ahmed.

The NIA alleges that it was Arafath, who had radicalised and hired the other accused for writing the graffiti in January 2020, in support of banned terrorist organisations, including ISIS and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He had allegedly paid the graffiti writers with funds received from his online handler in the form of crypto-currencies.

Arafat was arrested by the agency in September last year at the New Delhi International Airport upon his return from Kenya.

He had earlier fled to Dubai in anticipation of his arrest in another case, the Al-Hind module case, due to his association with two absconding accused: Abdul Matheen Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazeb, the NIA sources said.

The probe, according to NIA, has revealed that it was on instructions from Abdul Matheen and Mussavir Hussain that Arafath had indoctrinated Mohamed Shariq, Maaz Muneer Ahmed and others to write graffiti in support of terror and terror outfits at two places in Mangaluru.

Arafath, along with his associates and online handler, was also part of a larger conspiracy to further the terror activities of ISIS.

NIA had earlier filed one main and one supplementary chargesheet against nine accused, including Mohammed Shariq and Maaz Muneer Ahmed.

Further investigations into the case are continuing.