The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against an additional accused in the Shivamogga ISIS conspiracy case, related to the creation of graffiti in Mangaluru supporting proscribed terrorist organizations such as ISIS and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), according to an official statement on Friday.
In its supplementary chargesheet, the NIA included Arafath Ali, along with charging Mohammed Shariq and Maaz Muneer Ahmed, in the case registered in 2022.
Ali, apprehended at the Indira Gandhi International airport in Delhi upon his return from Kenya on September 14 last year, allegedly radicalized and recruited other suspects to create the graffiti in January 2020.
According to an NIA spokesperson, Ali fled to Dubai earlier to evade arrest in connection with another case, the Al-Hind module case, due to his association with two absconding suspects - Abdul Matheen Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazeb.
Investigations revealed that Ali indoctrinated Shariq, Ahmed, and others under the instructions of Taha and Shazeb to create graffiti supporting ISIS, LeT, and the Taliban in Mangaluru.
The NIA alleges that Ali, in collaboration with his associates and online handler, was involved in a broader conspiracy to advance the terrorist activities of ISIS. He purportedly compensated the graffiti creators with funds received from his online handler in the form of cryptocurrencies.
Previously, the NIA had filed a main and supplementary chargesheet against nine accused individuals, including Shariq and Ahmed.
The investigation into the case remains ongoing, stated the official.
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