The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday nabbed a key ISIS terror conspirator after he landed at the airport here from Kenya’s Nairobi, an official said. Arafath Ali was taken into custody the moment he landed, an agency spokesperson said, adding it marks a major breakthrough for the NIA in its efforts to uncover and foil the conspiracy of foreign-based Islamic State modules to carry out terrorist acts in India.

The official said Ali had been absconding since 2020, when he was accused of indulging in ISIS propaganda activities and planning terrorist acts.

“He had since been operating from abroad to promote anti-India terror agenda of ISIS,” the spokesperson said.

The official said the investigations have revealed that Ali, a resident of the Shivamogga district of Karnataka, was actively involved in the identification, radicalisation and recruitment of gullible Muslim youths into the proscribed global terror group while working from abroad.

“As part of the Shivamogga terror conspiracy case, one accused, Mohamed Shariq, had been on his way to plant a pressure cooker IED at Kadri Manjunatha Temple, Mangaluru, when the IED exploded accidentally in an auto-rickshaw. Ali had been in active touch with other accused persons in the case, and was actively involved in the planning and execution of the conspiracy,” the spokesperson said.

The agency said Ali was also responsible for the two Mangaluru wall graffiti cases of 2020, when, on his directions, two other accused — Mohamed Shariq and Maaz Muneer Ahmed — had written, “Don’t force us to invite Lashkar-e-Taiba and Taliban to deal with Sanghis and Manvedis #Lashkar Zindabad”. Investigations against Ali and other suspects in the case continue, the spokesperson said.