Pramesh S Jain
A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Bengaluru has convicted a third accused in the 2022 Shivamogga ISIS terror conspiracy case, sentencing him to six years of rigorous imprisonment.
The convicted accused,Arafath Ali,was found guilty of being part of a larger conspiracy linked to the banned terror outfit Islamic State. 
The NIA special court had earlier,in November 2025, sentenced two other accused to six years RI in the same case.
According to the agency,Arafath had fled India in January 2020 to evade arrest in a separate terror module case.
He was later arrested by NIA upon his arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport in September 2023.
Investigations revealed that Arafath was actively involved in propagating ISIS ideology and played a key role in radicalising and recruiting vulnerable youth into the Shivamogga-based terror module.
He was also accused of instigating co-conspirators to inscribe inflammatory graffiti in Mangaluru in support of ISIS and other terror groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
The conspiracy aimed to incite communal disharmony and trigger unrest in society, the NIA said.
Investigators further found that the accused was in contact with an online ISIS handler and acted as a funding conduit,allegedly receiving terror funds through cryptocurrency and distributing them among co-accused.
The case was initially registered by the Karnataka Police in September 2022 before being taken over by the NIA.
While two suspects were first arrested by state police, the NIA later apprehended 10 more accused and filed charges against all 12 individuals.
With three convictions so far,the trial against the remaining nine accused is currently underway..
