One of the men arrested, named Shahnawaz, had a bounty of ₹3 lakh. He was caught in South Delhi. Along with him, Mohammad Rizwan Ashraf and Mohammad Arshad Warsi were also arrested.

“We are in constant touch with Delhi Police. As of now, there is no official word regarding those arrested belonging to or trained in this part of Karnataka. We are constantly monitoring the situation. In a robust manner, we keep an eye on this kind of activity. What is happening, we are aware of these situations,” Renuka Sukumar Hubballi★Dharwad Police Commissioner told ANI.

During preliminary questioning, law enforcement authorities uncovered that the individuals in question carried out extensive ground surveillance. Their scope spanned the Western Ghats in Southern Indian cities like Hubbali and Dharwad and even reached as far as Ahmedabad in Gujarat. They apparently wanted to pinpoint and establish secure locations for their hideouts.

While responding to media queries, Dhaliwal said, “Shahnawaz is a mining engineer from Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology. His wife, Basanti Patel, is converted to Islam and is now known as Mariam.”

According to police, the three wanted suspected terrorists were produced before the court and they have been sent to 14 days of police custody.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), in September, unveiled the visual identities of four individuals, ardently sought for their alleged roles in the ISIS-affiliated module operating out of Pune. Accentuating the urgency of their capture, the agency put forth a financial incentive of ₹3 lakh for each individual. They also gave assurances that any informant’s identity would be kept confidential.

During the investigation, it had come to light that a foreign-based handler had possibly put Shahnawaz in touch with two other terror operatives with instructions to execute a terror strike.

(With ANI inputs)