The Kerala police on Friday arrested Shameel Shafiqulla, a native of Bihar, who had acted as the host of Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives Waqas Ahamed and Tehseen Akhtar at Munnar in Idukki district last year. Shameel, who had been running a tea shop in Munnar, had gone into hiding after the arrest of the two IM operatives in March last.
The Munnar police took Shameel into custody in the wee hours of Friday from the place where he had been running the tea shop after getting a tip-off. The police had taken him into custody after encircling the entire area to ensure that he did not escape the net. lookout notices bearing Shameel's picture had been stuck all over Munnar.
According to the NIA and the anti-terror squad of the Delhi Police investigating the cases against Waqas and Akhtar, they had stayed in Munnar for three months from September last year on the suspected mission of recruiting young Keralites into the terror outfit. The duo had reportedly visited certain places in Kochi also during their Kerala trip.
Investigators had learned that it was Shameel who had arranged the accommodation for Waqas and Tehs-een in Munnar. Delhi Police had taken Waqas and Tehseen to Munnar for an evidence-gathering exercise in April. A police source hoped Shameel’s arrest could be helpful to NIA in finding more about the IM's Kerala links.