NIA nabs PFI weapon trainer linked to Nizamabad terror plot from Karnataka

An alleged "master weapons trainer" of the banned Popular Front of India -- who was living under an assumed identity -- was arrested from Karnataka, the National Investigation Agency said on Wednesday.

Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: ANI Photo

The 33-year-old accused, Nossam Mohamed Yunus, was wanted for his alleged involvement in the Nizamabad terror conspiracy case, a spokesperson of the federal agency said

The official said Yunus of Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh was working in the inverter business of his elder brother. When his house was searched in September 2022, he was found to be absconding along with his wife and two minor sons.

The spokesperson said that investigations revealed that Yunus had shifted his entire family from Andhra Pradesh and was hiding out in the Cowl Bazar area of the Bellary district of Karnataka, where he had assumed a new identity -- Basheer -- and a new profession as a plumber.

The case pertains to a criminal conspiracy hatched by the leaders and cadres of the proscribed outfit PFI to recruit and radicalise youths and provide them with arms training to promote and carry out terrorist activities with the ultimate objective of establishing Islamic rule in the country, the agency alleged.

"Yunus was a master weapons trainer and was providing training to the youth recruited by PFI in the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana region. He was also the PE (Physical Education) Training State Coordinator for these two states in the Nizamabad PFI case," the spokesperson said.

The NIA claimed that Yunus, who has been giving evasive replies during NIA interrogation, has said that Shaikh ilyas Ahmed was also involved in the PFI weapons training programme. Ilyas is currently absconding.

"With his arrest, NIA has once again exposed the PFI's radical nefarious plans to drive a communal wedge among the communities and to use innocent Muslim youth to disturb and disrupt peace and communal harmony in the country," the spokesperson said.

Telangana Police had initially registered an FIR in the case on July 4 last year and NIA had later taken over the case.

It has so far filed two charge sheets against 16 accused in this case.

The Centre had banned the PFI and its eight affiliate outfits under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on September 28 last year for their alleged terror-linked activities.