Mohammed Shafi Armar from Bhatkal killed in US airstrike in Syria

April 25, 2016

Bhatkal, Apr 25: Alleged Islamic State (IS) recruiter Mohammed Shafi Armar, hailing from coastal Karnataka's Bhatkal town, is learnt to have been killed in a U.S. air strike on Syria in the last couple of days.

isisA senior intelligence official in New Delhi tracking developments on IS said that they had received the information from their American counterparts on Sunday night. “We are in the process of cross-verifying it on the ground by our men. From initial reports, he is, in all probability, dead,” said the official. Intelligence agencies are also monitoring pro-IS social media handles for confirmation from the IS side.

Armar was recently in the news after the National Investigation Agency and Intelligence Bureau had, in a countrywide crackdown, arrested 14 men, of which six were from Karnataka, on allegations of being in touch with the IS.

It later turned out that all the 14 arrested were in touch with Armar, who headed the Ansar-Ul-Tawhid, an offshoot of IS previously headed by his brother Sultan Armar. However, investigation had then revealed that he was operating under a new banner Janood Al Khalifa Hind, a local terror outfit.

The new terror outfit had an Amir, a military chief and a treasurer, all of whom were busted in the January 2016 operation. While all those arrested were under the scanner for IS leanings, an intervention was necessitated after agencies observed that the gang was working towards a terror strike within India.

“This clearly shows that Shafi Armar had aspirations to be the new Jehadi terror leader in the country filling the place of the Indian Mujahiddeen,” said the senior intelligence official.

In fact, he started his terror career with Indian Mujahiddeen, when he was recruited along with Sultan Armar to it by Riyaz Bhatkal in 2008, sources said. The brothers were holed up in Pakistan since then, agencies said.

However, in 2011-12, they started the Ansar-Ul-Tawhid, which was first operating from North Waziristan in Pakistan from the training camps of Tehrik-e-Taliban.

In fact, IS chief Abu-Bakr-Al-Bhagdadi in a video message had declared Sultan Armar as an Amir (leader) of AuT. He was killed on March 6, 2015 in a similar air strike in Kobane, Syria.

According to NIA, over the last two years, Shafi Armar had emerged as the chief online recruiter of IS in the country.

Those arrested in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh in April 2015, the four men arrested in New Delhi and Rourkela in January 2016 were also recruited by him, agencies claim. “Of late, he had emerged as the only common link among many IS recruits in the country,” the senior intelligence official said.

NIA officials had said that he followed a three-step recruitment process — first he would scout for vulnerable Muslim youth on social media like Facebook and Twitter, after which he would get in touch with them directly over web-based applications and brainwash them to join the IS. He would later use encrypted applications like Kik, Telegram to send instructions.

Comments

PK
 - 
Monday, 25 Apr 2016

Wow.... Lets FORGET Malegaon TWist and concentrate on this new terrorist... .... any way our indian people still believing such news flash even after exposing the media LIES ... what to do some Animals are used to accept like donkeys whatever is said in the MEDiA.

Viren Kotian
 - 
Monday, 25 Apr 2016

Hahaha. Idu kanri suddi andre.. Great news. need to eliminate these animals one by one across the world.

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Media Release
March 10,2020

Mangaluru, Mar 10:  Country’s economic condition is not permanent. All young entrepreneurs can be forward looking persons, because all bad times are followed by good times. In fact, it is good time to start your own industry, said Nitte Deemed to be University Chancellor Dr. N Vinaya Hegde. 

Addressing the gathering after inaugurating a three-day entrepreneurship symposium organized by Mangalore University and Department of M. Com and MBA, University Evening College at University College Mangalore here on Monday, he said that entrepreneurship is something you enjoy. You should belief that there is something in you to achieve your area of choice. You should get pleasure out of it. 

Ex-MLC Capt. Ganesh Karnik believed that our population is definitely a resource, but symposiums are needed to convert ideas to implementation. Coastal Karnataka is best example for successful entrepreneurship in health, education sector, he added. 

Presiding over the function, Mangalore University Vice Chancellor Prof. P Subrahmanya Yadapadithaya said that students should be universally compassionate before being an entrepreneur. There will be challenges, failures in entrepreneurship. One should trust himself, and should have courage and confidence to be innovative. One should have aspiration and passion for excellence, he added.

Young scientist, international awardee Swasthik Padma was felicitated on the occasion. Evening college Principal Dr. Ramakrishna B M, Coordinator  Dr. Yathish Kumar were present among others. Kavya P Hegde mastered the ceremony, Venkatesh Nayak presented vote of thanks.

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News Network
July 26,2020

Kasaragod, Jul 26: First funeral, now wedding. Forty-three persons who attended a wedding at Pilankatta in Chengala panchayat in Kasaragod on July 17 have tested positive for Covid-19, said district medical officer (DMO) A V Ramdas.

They include the bride and the groom. Collector D Sajith Babu has asked all those who attended the wedding to go into home quarantine for 14 days. Those with Covid symptoms should get in touch with the nearest primary health centre, he said.

The DMO said samples of 128 persons linked to the wedding were tested, of which 43 turned out positive. Earlier, 44 persons who attended a funeral in Cherkala in the first week of July had tested positive. The funeral was declared a cluster and the government had to test 522 persons linked to the funeral.

The collector said those taking part in funeral or weddings without following the Covid protocol would be booked under the Kerala Epidemic Diseases Act. If convicted, they would face up to two years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of `10,000. Kasaragod police said they will register a case in connection with the wedding. 

Pilankatta ward member Abdulla Kunhi K B said it was not a big fat wedding. The ceremony held at the bride’s house at Pilankatta was attended by less than 100 people, he said.“Theirs is a big family with four houses in one compound. 

As many as 30 members are staying in these houses,” said Kunhi. Nine of the 30 have tested positive.Of the 15 guests, who came from the bride’s mother’s house, 12 contracted the infection. “The rest of the infected persons were among the groom’s guests,” said Kunhi, who did not attend the wedding. The groom and the bride’s father returned from Dubai three months ago.

1,049: state records biggest recovery
A total of 1,049 Covid patients recovered on Saturday. This is the first time that the number of recoveries crossed the 1,000-mark in the state. The previous highest was 968 reported on Friday. So far, as many as 8,613 patients have recovered.

roping in ayush experts a challenge  
Plan to bring AYUSH practitioners for treating positive patients at CFLTCs is going to be a challenge for the government. It turned out that respective associations were planning to approach the government with an individual charter of demands. 

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News Network
February 16,2020

Udupi, Feb 16: Nine people were killed after a private bus collided with a large roadside boulder in Udupi district in Karnataka on Saturday, the police said. The accident took place on Saturday evening, at around 5.45 pm, on the Mulnur Ghat at Abbas Kattingeri in Mala village, while the bus was on its way to Mangaluru from Sringeri, reported the news channel.

The bus, which was reportedly carrying around 35 passengers, was trying to manoeuvre a turn while travelling on a ghat road when the driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle hit a massive boulder and the impact caused seven people to die on the spot. Two others passed away while they were on the way to the hospital.

The deceased passengers have been identified as Radha Ravi, Yogendra, Preetham Gowda, Basavaraju, Angana, Sharul and Ranjitha. The cleaner of the bus was also killed in the accident.

According to reports, the passengers in the bus were mostly in their early 20s and were employees of Vital Records Private Limited near JCK Industrial Park. Century Vital Records is a data security company which works in the Hebbal Industrial Mysuru. The group was visiting Udupi, Hornadu and Kudremukh.

While some of the injured persons were rushed to Manipal hospital, others were taken to the Karkala city government hospital, police said.

The police have said that rash and negligent driving by the driver is likely to have caused the accident. A case has been registered at the Karkala Rural Police Station, the police said.

Last month, three persons were killed and four others were injured after a fatal collision between a van and a bus near Bengaluru. Both the vehicles caught fire after the impact, but while passengers of the bus, travelling from Bengaluru to Shivamogga, managed to escape, the three passengers who were trapped in the van could not escape and were charred to death.

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