Key Indian Mujahideen operative Wahid arrested in Delhi

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 a 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 had been issued against him on the basis of which he was held Friday,” said an NIA spokesperson.

“Wahid has played a very important role for sustaining the IM in West Asia,” 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.