Police arrest 20-year-old Uttar Pradesh migrant in Harihar over alleged links to Pakistan-based group

BENGALURU: The state police have arrested a 20-year-old migrant worker, Suhail, from Uttar Pradesh in connection with alleged terror-related activities and links to a Pakistan-based group.

According to Davanagere Superintendent of Police (SP) Shekhar H T, the arrested person had arrived in the region approximately 15 days ago and had been living in a rented house while employed as a painter at a private factory. Police were alerted to his activities through credible intelligence and are going to take help from central agencies in the investigation, he stated.

The arrest, carried out by the Harihar Rural police in Davanagere district, follows a series of recent security operations in the state. Recently, two suspects, Allahbhakash in Tumakuru and Zamir Khan in Davangaere city, were also arrested. Based on the information about the detainees, the suspects from Uttar Pradesh have been arrested.

“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 these terror-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 said.

The SP added that there is no evidence of any organisation association yet, but the arrested person was in contact with the handlers through social media platforms.

“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 said.

“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. Further investigation is under way.

Home Minister Priyank Kharge addressed the situation on Wednesday, noting that law enforcement acted swiftly upon receiving intelligence regarding the suspect’s alleged ties to a Pakistan-based group.

Speaking to reporters about the developments, Kharge said, “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.” (ANI)