IS-linked accused worked to bring Sharia law in India: Karnataka Police

Shivamogga: The suspected Islamic State-inspired terrorists, who were arrested here earlier this week, wanted to establish a Caliphate and impose Sharia law in the country as they believed India has not yet achieved its freedom, a police officer said on Friday.

Shivamogga Superintendent of Police B M Lakshmi Prasad said the arrested persons were working towards fulfilling these ideologies in the country.

“They (accused) had the ideology that India has not secured its independence still and the independence which the country have achieved is from the British rule. The real freedom will be achieved when the Caliphate is established and after that, Sharia law is imposed,” the SP said.

According to him, engineer Syed Yasin (21), engineering student Maaz Muneer Ahmed (22), and Shariq (24) were booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on September 19. Shariq is absconding while the other two have been arrested.

The SP said the suspected terrorists profess the ideology that the IS has adopted. “The arrested persons wanted to wage a war against Kafirs and non-believers,” Prasad said.

In pursuance of this goal, the accused had burnt the national flag and the police have recovered a half-burnt tricolour.

They had also carried out an experimental blast in Gurupur on the outskirts of Shivamogga near Tunga river. Most of the materials were bought locally but an electronic device was obtained through an e-commerce portal, he added.

The police had arrested a man on August 15 when violence broke out in the district for stabbing a youth. His questioning led to the busting of this IS module, the SP said.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has joined the Shivamogga police in the probe.