Bengaluru, June 24 (IANS) In a joint operation, police in Karnataka’s Davangere District and intelligence officials have arrested a man linked to Pakistan on suspicion of involvement in terror-related activities.

The accused has been identified as Suhail, a native of Uttar Pradesh. Police said he had recently arrived in Harihar taluk in Davangere district for painting work and was residing in a village under the jurisdiction of the Harihar Rural Police Station.

According to officials, preliminary investigation indicated that information related to suspected terrorist activities was reportedly found on his WhatsApp account.

However, authorities have not shared further details regarding the nature of the content or alleged links.

Police said the action was taken based on specific inputs and in coordination with instructions from the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Following this, a search operation was conducted, leading to his arrest.

Further investigation is underway to verify the extent of his alleged connections and to determine whether he had any operational links with any organised network.

Officials have not yet disclosed whether any incriminating material was recovered during the search.

The case remains under investigation, and more details are expected as the probe progresses.

Earlier this month, NIA conducted searches at multiple locations in Punjab and Haryana in connection with three terror-gangster network cases linked to Pakistan-based terrorist Shahzad Bhatti.

NIA teams carried out coordinated searches at 18 locations across nine districts in the two states.

Several individuals were examined to gather relevant information, while digital devices, documents, and data related to communication networks, financial transactions, and the activities of persons under the agency’s scanner were seized in connection with the three cases.

The information and evidence collected during the searches have been sent for scrutiny, as well as forensic and technical examination, to help unravel the larger cross-border conspiracy.

Notices have also been issued to certain individuals to join the investigation for further questioning as part of the NIA’s ongoing probe into the broader conspiracy allegedly being operated by gangster-turned-terrorist Bhatti from across the border. Tuesday’s searches focused on identifying Bhatti’s associates and others linked to the terror conspiracy in all three cases.

–IANS

rs/sd/