Investigation agency names another suspect in Karnataka terror graffiti case

In the Shivamogga ISIS plot case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday submitted a chargesheet against an additional accused person in relation to the painting of pro-terrorist graffiti in Mangaluru, Karnataka, authorities said on Friday.

Two more people were charged with further offenses by the primary anti-terror investigation agency.

The NIA has charged Mohammed Shariq and Maaz Muneer Ahmed, along with the accused Arafath Ali, in its second supplemental chargesheet.

According to the NIA, Arafath was the one who paid the other accused to write the graffiti in January 2020 in favor of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other outlawed terrorist organizations after he became radicalized. It was reported that he had used cryptocurrency—money obtained from his internet handler—to compensate the graffiti artists.

When Arafat arrived back in New Delhi from Kenya in September of last year, the CIA detained him at the airport.

Due to his connections to two fugitives, Abdul Matheen Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazeb, he had already fled to Dubai in expectation of being arrested in another case, the Al-Hind module case, according to the NIA sources.

According to the NIA, the investigation has shown that Arafath brainwashed Mohamed Shariq, Maaz Muneer Ahmed, and others to daub graffiti in favor of terror and terror groups at two locations in Mangaluru, Karnataka, on orders from Abdul Matheen and Mussavir Hussain.

Arafath was a part of a bigger plot to support ISIS’s terrorist actions, along with his allies and the person who handled his internet presence.

Mohammed Shariq and Maaz Muneer Ahmed were among the nine defendants against whom the NIA had already issued one main chargesheet and one supplemental chargesheet.

Investigations into the matter are still ongoing.