Salman Khan, the 30-year-old Indian terror suspect who was earlier this week deported from Rwanda to his home country, is linked to radicalisation of inmates at a major Indian prison, it has emerged.
Khan, who was deported for his alleged involvement in acts of terrorism, is reportedly part of a network of elements that radicalised a group of inmates at the Bengaluru central prison, reportedly the largest prison in the Indian state of Karnataka, according to The New Indian Express.
His geolocation and extradition from Rwanda was the outcome of a coordinated effort involving India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and National Investigation Agency (NIA), Interpol, Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), and diplomatic and political authorities from both countries.
He is a member of the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), according to reports, citing Indian officials.
Khan, formerly an inmate in the same prison, was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice.
He is accused of supplying arms, ammunition, and explosives to facilitate terrorist activities in Bengaluru, a city in Southern India, according to reports.
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"Khan's involvement in terrorism dates back to his time in Bengaluru central prison, where he was radicalised by Tadiyandavede Nasir, an LeT operative linked to the 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts,” reads part of a news report in The New Indian Express.
The Bangalore serial blasts involved nine bomb explosions that took place in July 2008 in the Indian city of Bangalore, killing at least one person.
Nasir, who has been incarcerated since 2009, is accused of recruiting several Muslim youths into terrorism, including Khan, who had been imprisoned from 2018-2022 for a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, according to reports.
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Khan skipped bail he had been granted in the POCSO case, eventually ending up in Rwanda after authorities began to investigate the prison-based radicalisation module in July 2023, added one of the media reports.
He is said to the 17th terror accused to be extradited or deported to India in major NIA cases since 2020.
It is not clear how and when he arrived in Rwanda or what he was doing in the country. Rwanda maintains a visa-on-arrival policy for visitors from anywhere in the world.
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Khan faces a range of charges related to his role in orchestrating terrorist activities against the Indian government, with reports saying NIA was prepared to prosecute him for alleged involvement in a larger terror conspiracy that aimed to destabilise the region.
Khan was arrested on September 9 following an arrest warrant issued by Interpol, or the International Criminal Police Organization, on August 2.
In India, he was on Thursday produced in a special court for terrorism cases in Bengaluru by the NIA.
Khan told court he had been taken into custody between 7a.m to 8a.m on November 27 in Kigali and transferred to Mumbai around 4a.m on November 28, according to India Express.
The accused was then remanded for 14 days of judicial custody by the special court and his passport was impounded.
In court, NIA representatives were granted permission to open a sealed cover handed over by the Rwanda Investigation Bureau for examination of documents dispatched from Kigali, the report adds.