Bhatkal-born alleged ISIS recruiter Shafi Armar named global terrorist

Agencies
June 16, 2017

New Delhi, Jun 16: Fugitive chief recruiter for terror group ISIS in the Indian subcontinent Mohammed Shafi Armar was today named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US.Armar

The US State Treasury Department, while updating its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT), has included in it Armar, a native of Bhatkal in Karnataka, clearing the way for sanctions against him.

An Interpol Red Corner notice is also pending against the 30-year-old Armar, who has many aliases like 'Chhote Maula', 'Anjan Bhai' and 'Yousuf al-Hindi'.

Armar's name has now been added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department which enforces economic sanctions programmes, primarily against countries and groups of individuals, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers.

The sanctions can be either comprehensive or selective, using the blocking of assets and trade restrictions to accomplish foreign policy and national security goals of the US.

Armar was said to have left for Pakistan along with his elder brother after crackdown on Indian Mujahideen cadres.

After a fight with Bhatkal brothers, including Riyaz, the founder of IM, in Pakistan, Armar is believed to have created Ansar ul Tawhid, which later pledged its allegiance to the ISIS.

There have been many reports of him having been dead in a drone attack or crackdown by the allied forces. However, every time intelligence agencies began giving credence to such reports, his name or voice cropped up in intercepts.

Tech savvy, Armar has been operating on Facebook and other personal messenger services to contact, brainwash and recruit youths from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

His links to the ISIS were also the highlight of the interrogation of Yasin Bhatkal, who was arrested near the Nepal border in 2013.

Shafi Armar first came on the radar of investigation agencies when the NIA was probing suspected ISIS cadres in Ratlam of Madhya Pradesh.

During the interrogation of alleged IS operatives, it emerged that Armar was motivating and radicalising Muslim youths in India. He was said to have been recruiting youths for the Jund ul Khalifa-e-Hind through online radicalisation.

The NIA had charge-sheeted him along with five others for allegedly conspiring to carry out terror strikes in the national capital and also during ardhkumbh in Haridwar.

The National Investigation Agency had told a special court that these accused were planning to assemble Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) using extracts from "match sticks".

The United Arab Emirates had deported three Indians who were allegedly working for Armar.

It emerged during the interrogation of IM suspects that he was a self-proclaimed ally of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, chief of the ISIS.

Comments

Shankar
 - 
Saturday, 17 Jun 2017

So sad, youngsters falling prey to religious extremism.

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 18,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 18: Veteran actor Hulivana Gangadharaiah has passed away due to novel Coronavirus at the age of 70 on Friday night at a private hospital. He has acted in films, plays and serials as well.

He was acting in the romantic serial Premaloka which has Vijay Suriya and Ankitha Navya Gowda in lead roles.

According to reports, after he showed the symptoms of having Coronavirus, he got self-isolated at his farm house. When his health condition deteriorated, he was admitted to the hospital. Gangadhariah has acted in over 100 films, 150 plays and many serials lived his life in a simple way.

Condoling the death of Gangadharaiah, T N Seetharam on his Facebook page posted, “The death of a friend and a wonderful actor Hulivana Gangandharaiah is painful. In Aaspota play, the role of a driver he played brought immense popularity ro the play. When George Fernandes watched the play he appreciated his character. In the serial Muktha Muktha, he played the role of a politician Rajanandaswamy with ease which was aired for over three years brought us closer. In the modern theatre, Nagesh whom I consider as Guru used to cast Gangadharaiah in each play he directed which reflected the kind of faith he had in him. After a few years, he got involved in agriculture so I did not had much contact with him. It’s been nearly eight years I last met him. It is very sad that we have lost him.”

Lead actor of the serial Premaloka, Vijay Suriya has also mourned the death of Hulivana Gangadharaiah who was seen in a pivotal role in the serial.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 6,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 6: PVR Cinemas on Friday launched its five-screen multiplex in here, augmenting its presence in Karnataka across 15 properties to 103 screens and to 46 properties and 286 screens in southern India.

With this opening, PVR consolidates its growth momentum in the current financial year 2019-20, so far opening 83 screens in the year and bringing its portfolio to 841 screens at 176 properties in 71 cities.

"We feel proud to cross the 100 screens milestone in the state of Karnataka at the very beginning of the year," said Joint Managing Director Sanjeev Kumar Bijli.

"Southern India has a strong market with significant growth potential. In Bengaluru, we have introduced some of our best formats and offerings owing to the nature of preferences by our customers," he said in a statement.

Pramod Arora, Chief Growth and Strategy Officer at PVR Ltd, said the company will continue to enhance the consumer experience through innovation and set new benchmarks in the Indian multiplex industry.

PVR is the largest and the most premium film exhibition company in India, serving over 100 million patrons annually. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 6,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday launched the ruling BJP's outreach campaign in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Bengaluru.

"The CAA came into being after its amendment bill was passed in Parliament during its winter session with the support of major political parties. It is meant to give shelter and protection to Hindu minorities facing persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It does not take away any rights of Indians," Yediyurappa told residents on a door-to-door campaign in the city.

Accusing the opposition Congress of misleading the people on the CAA and inciting its protesters to indulge in violence, the chief minister said the Act does not cause any problem to all sections of Indians.

"There is no question of taking away anyone's citizenship, including that of Muslims, as the Act only facilitates the return of the Hindus persecuted in the neighbouring countries in the sub-continent," he asserted.

State deputy chief minister H.C. Ashwath Narayana and party's Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha member P.C. Mohan accompanied the chief minister on his outreach programme in some residential and commercial areas of the city.

As part of the nationwide campaign in favour the CAA, the party's state unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel and the state's dozen cabinet ministers led the campaign in other cities across the southern state.

"An awareness campaign will be peacefully held daily till January 15 across the state to counter the protests against it by students and other people at the behest of the Congress and Left parties," Kateel told reporters at Mangaluru, 350km southwest of Bengaluru.

Kateel is a BJP Lok Sabha member from the state's Dakshina Kannada seat.

Besides contacting the people directly at their doorstep through the party's leaders, cadres and supporters, the BJP is reaching all sections of society through social media and by holding pro-CAA rallies in all the 30-district headquarters across the state over the next 10 days.

"About 300 leaders and cadres of the party have fanned out in cities and towns across the state to explain the provisions of the CAA to the people and clarify their doubts, as the protesters were misleading them with wrong information about it," reiterated Kateel.

The CAA came into being after the President enacted the a law to give citizenship rights to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians who have been allegedly persecuted as minorities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan over the last seven decades.

"A deliberate misinformation campaign has been carried out against the CAA by vested interests, misguiding a section of college/university students, their faculty, activists and members of the minority community on its provisions so as to create unrest and trigger violence in the country," Ravikumar claimed.

The ruling party also held rallies and public meetings in major cities like Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Bellary and Kalaburagi across the state and enlightened the people on the benefits of the CAA.

"As social media is all-pervasive with greater reach and better impact, we are also reaching about one crore people of all ages through Kannada, Hindi and English script, messages and audio/video clips in the state during the fortnight campaign," added Kateel.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.