Key IM operative, Abdul Wahid Sidibapa, arrested in Delhi

Bengaluru: Abdul Wahid Sidibapa – an alleged key operative of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), the banned terrorist organisation and a relative of India’s most wanted terror fugitives Riyaz and Iqbal Shahbandari alias the notorious Bhatkal brothers – was on Friday arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

Wahid was reportedly detained in Abu Dhabi in 2014 on the request of Indian authorities for allegedly routing the money sent by Riyaz and Iqbal using banking channels and the Western Union Money Transfer ahead of bomb blasts in India during and after 2006.

“Wahid was wanted in cases pertaining to conspiracy by the IM to attack various places in India. He was based in Dubai for more than a decade and was involved in the recruitment of IM cadres. Under the code name of Khan, Wahid was also providing them with monetary and other logistic help in the UAE and facilitating their transit to Pakistan for militant training. A warrant of arrest and a Red Corner Notice (RCN) had been issued against him on the basis of which he was arrested today,” said an NIA spokesperson.

“Wahid has played a very important role for sustaining the IM in the Middle East after the arrest of his cousin Mohammed Ahmed Zarar Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal in August 2013. His arrest is a big blow to the terror organisation, which is almost on its last legs with the key members barring Riyaz and Iqbal under arrest in India,” said an official source.

Wahid was arrested after a long and painstaking effort by the Indian enforcement agencies and the mutual cooperation between India and the UAE, which along with its neighbour Saudi Arabia has been flushing out Indian fugitive terrorists from its soil. Wahid is originally a resident of Maqdoom Colony in Bhatkal and is fluent in Urdu, English, Hindi and Kannada.

He is innocent: wahid’s father
Relatives of alleged Indian Mujahideen operative, Abdul Wahid Siddibapa have claimed that he is innocent. He was in Bhatkal till 2003 working as Imam in a mosque, but left following some quarrel. Mansoor Kola, father-in-law of Wahid, has ruled out the charges of him being an IM operative. "Abdul is not a person who would get into all these. He was arrested earlier at Dubai after which he lost his job and was facing problems. His wife and children too are with him at Dubai. The family is finding it difficult to pay for food and rent.  These allegations are false," he said.