New Delhi: A key accused in the Vizianagaram ISIS terror conspiracy case was arrested from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Thursday evening by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Arif Hussain alias Abu Talib, a resident of Bihar, was about to leave the country when he was arrested, the NIA has said. He will be produced before the NIA Special Court in Visakhapatnam, the agency said.
The NIA claims that Hussain had been in contact with Siraj-ur-Rahman, who was arrested earlier in the case along with Syed Sameer. Rahman and Sameer were found to be in possession of chemicals used for making Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and were conspiring to carry out terror strikes.
Further investigations revealed that Hussain was involved in the illegal supply of weapons in various parts of the country for alleged jihadi activities.
The Vizianagaram ISIS terror conspiracy case came to light after the arrest of Rahman and Sameer, who were allegedly planning bomb blasts using improvised tiffin box explosives. The suspects were acting under instructions from ISIS handlers based in Saudi Arabia.
The NIA took over the investigation, and efforts are underway to identify and apprehend the remaining members of the terror module.
Hussain’s arrest and his subsequent interrogation will yield more clues that are likely to help the NIA in getting to all members of the terror module.