Bengaluru: IS link to Church Street blast, says NIA

Bengaluru: Agency (NIA) has stated that the accused in the Church Street bomb blast case was in constant touch with Amzad Khan alias Ayan Khan Salafi, an ISIS sympathiser who was arrested on Thursday after being deported from Saudi Arabia.

While probing a case against those involved in ISIS related activities, a person whose online identities were Ayan Khan Salafi alias Muhammadi Ayan alias Al Wala Wal Bara had surfaced as a major suspect in the case. Investigations had revealed that he was a resident of Rajasthan and working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, since 2014.On Tuesday, he was deported by the Saudi authorities to India, after which he was arrested by NIA officials.

“On preliminary questioning, it is ascertained that his actual name is Amzad Khan, 37, a resident of Ratnagarh of Churu district in Rajasthan. Investigations revealed that he was in regular online contact on Nimbuzz chat application with the Alam Zeb Afridi, the main accused in the Church Street blast case. between December 2015 and January 2016,” the NIA stated. However, it is yet to be ascertained whether Salafi was also involved in the Church Street blast case.

Alam Zeb Afridi alias Mohammed Rafiq alias Javed, the accused in the Church Street blast case, was arrested by NIA officials from his house in Doddanagamangala near Parappana Agrahara on January 22, 2016.

He had admitted to his primary role in preparing the IED and placing it near Coconut Grove Bar and Restaurant on Dec. 28, 2014, in a bid to target some Israeli tourists who were supposed to dine at the restaurant that evening. The blast resulted in the death of a woman and injuries to three people. Afridi hails from Ahmedabad and is currently lodged in the city central jail.

The NIA also said that Salafi had emerged as one of the principal characters in the conspiracy hatched by other members of the newly formed organisation “Junood-ul-Khilafa-Fil-Hind”, who pledged their allegiance to ISIS, for carrying out subversive activities in India. The NIA has already filed chargesheet against 17 accused persons in connection with the case.