Overview
- Arafath Ali, sentenced Tuesday by an NIA court in Bengaluru, received six years in the 2022 Shivamogga ISIS case after a guilty plea, becoming the third of 12 accused to be convicted with nine still on trial.
- T. Naseer and six others received seven-year terms Wednesday for a Lashkar-e-Taiba plot run from Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara prison, with the court crediting time already spent in custody.
- NIA says Ali recruited local youths into the Shivamogga module, stayed in touch with an online ISIS handler, and routed funds through cryptocurrency wallets to support activities.
- Investigators say the prison conspiracy targeted inmates for radicalisation, procured country-made pistols and live rounds, and planned to free Naseer during a court escort after the CCB’s July 2023 seizures led to the NIA probe.
- The cases show cross-border footprints, with Ali arrested on deportation in September 2023, Salman Khan extradited from Rwanda in 2024, and alleged coordinator Junaid Ahmed still untraced abroad.