A 20-year-old migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh has been arrested in Karnataka’s Davanagere over suspected terror links and alleged contacts with people inPakistan, police said on Wednesday.
<figure class="art
Suhail had recently arrived in Harihar taluk and was working as a painter. Authorities said he had been staying in a rented home and reached the area around two weeks ago in search of employment.
He was arrested on Tuesday by the Harihara Rural Police in coordination with intelligence officials after receiving inputs from the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Officials subsequently handed him over to the concerned investigating agency for further examination.
ALSO READ | ‘Covering up its own failings’: India shreds Pakistan’s ‘will go to war’ remarks over Indus Waters Treaty
“We secured the accused and handed him over to the investigating agency concerned,” a senior police officer said, as per PTI.
According to investigators, material suspected to be linked to terror-related activities was recovered from the accused’s WhatsApp account. Preliminary findings also suggest that he had been communicating with multiple individuals based in Pakistan.
Earlier arrests
The development comes amid heightened security scrutiny inKarnataka following the arrest of two other suspects on June 4 from Tumakuru and Davangere districts.
Those individuals were allegedly in contact with a Pakistan-based person through social media and were accused of conspiring to take part in activities considered harmful to India’s national security, as per PTI.
Davanagere Superintendent of Police Shekhar HT said the suspect came under police scrutiny after authorities received credible intelligence inputs regarding his online activities, news agency ANI reported.
“Based on some credible information, we have secured him and verified him. Upon checking his mobile, it is found that he is in contact with some foreign entities with respect to theseterror-related activities on social media platforms. We have registered a case in this connection, and we have arrested him. And we are going to analyse his complete social media platform through his mobile. And after that, we will conclude the investigation as to who he was and how he was in contact with others. All angles we are going to investigate this case in future,” the SP told ANI.
Police probing online contacts
Police are currently examining the suspect’s digital footprint to determine the nature and extent of his contacts. Investigators are also seeking to establish whether he has any connection with individuals arrested in earlier cases.
“As of now, there is no association with any organisation. But he is in contact with the handlers through social media platforms. We will verify because it is very premature to say anything, as we have to analyse his complete mobile data. Then only can we come to a conclusion whether he is in touch with other suspects in the previous cases,” he told ANI.
The officer also said that the suspect was initially intercepted during routine patrol duties by a local police sub-inspector.
“Our Rural Police Station Sub-Inspector, when he was on rounds, caught this suspect. Upon enquiry, he could not answer the questions which were raised by our Police Sub-Inspector and upon checking his antecedents and mobile, we came to know that he is in touch with some social media, an online social media radicalisation group. It is the local police who have engaged, and we are going to take the help of the various central agencies also for the investigation purpose”, he added.
What Priyank Kharge said
Karnataka home ministerPriyank Kharge confirmed the arrest and said the suspect had come to the state looking for work before attracting the attention of investigators.
ALSO READ |UP ATS arrests two more linked to Pakistan-based terror network
“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, as per PTI.
The minister said conversations recovered from the suspect’s mobile phone indicated communication with individuals in Pakistan, though investigators were still determining the nature of those interactions.
“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.
Addressing reporters later, Kharge said that the arrest was made swiftly after authorities received intelligence regarding the suspect’s alleged cross-border contacts.
“He is a migrant labour from Uttar Pradesh. The preliminary investigation revealed that he has been in touch with some people from across the border. We are investigating it… As soon as we got the information that he was in touch with people from Pakistan and other places, we took him into custody. Further investigation will reveal who he is in touch with and what he intended to do.”
Authorities have stressed that the investigation remains at an early stage and that conclusions regarding organisational links, radicalisation, or broader networks will depend on the analysis of the accused’s mobile data and social media activity.
Further investigation is underway.
