The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has successfully identified a crucial middleman as Haris Farooqui, a key absconding accused in the Delhi ISIS terror module during a probe with Shahnawaz Alam, a key accused arrested in the Maharashtra terror module that was busted in July this year, officials said here on Wednesday.

Officials further said that Farooqui was also in constant touch with two other arrested operatives, Rizwan Ashraf and Mohammad Arshad Warsi, who were arrested by the Delhi special cell.

They said he is also in contact with a fugitive terrorist from Hyderabad, Farhatullah Ghori, linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed.

According to NIA, Farooqui also played a key role in establishing the Aligarh module.

Farooqui, a former Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) student, allegedly played a crucial role in founding the Students of Aligarh Muslim University (SAMU) group, of which Alam was an active member.

Alam revealed that Farooqui held the title of 'Ameer' (a person whose shared ideology was followed by everyone) within the group, which distributed ISIS literature to persuade others to join the outfit using online platforms and secret meetings.