3 suspected ISIS Terrorists caught by Delhi Police
Delhi Police Special Cell said that three suspected ISIS terrorists wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have been sent on seven-day police remand. The module was planning to carry out terrorist incidents in North India by taking instructions from handlers based abroad.
One of the suspected terrorists has been identified as Shahnawaz and has been arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police, just days after the NIA announced a reward of ₹3 lakh on him.
Who is Shahnawaz alias Shafi Uzzama?
Shahnawaz is a mining engineer and is believed to have fled from Pune and was living in the National Capital Region.
Last month, the NIA released photographs of four terror suspects, including Shahnawaz, wanted in the Pune ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) module case and announced a reward of ₹3 lakh each for credible information about them. The agency has said that the identity of the person giving information will be kept confidential.
The other three have been identified as Talha Liaquat Khan of Pune, Rizwan Abdul Haji Ali, and Abdullah Faiyaz Shaikh, alias Deparwala, of Delhi.
Shahnawaz and two others—23-year-old Mohammad Imran Mohammad Yunus Khan and 24-year-old Mohammad Yunus Mohammad Yakub Saki—were arrested by the Kothrud police in Pune on July 18 while attempting to steal a two-wheeler. When the police were taking him to his residence in Kondhwa, Pune, for searching, Shahnawaz jumped from the police vehicle and managed to escape.
Upon questioning Khan and Saki, police learned that they were residents of Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and were allegedly involved in a terror case registered in Rajasthan after explosives were found in a car in March 2022. There was also a reward of ₹5 lakh for each of them. A police officer said.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) took over the investigation on 22 July.
During further investigation, Khan and Saki said that Shahnawaz had kept some acid at Bopatghat near Kondhwa, the agency took the help of bomb disposal and investigation squad and seized the acid and several other chemicals which were used to make the bomb.
The ATS also seized several other materials and found 500 GB of data in the laptops and mobile phones of the accused, which included links to YouTube videos of bomb making and Google images of various locations.
During the investigation, it was revealed that a foreign-based handler had possibly put Shahnawaz in touch with Imran and Yunus with instructions to carry out the terror attack in February. Sources said that after 10-15 days, Shahnawaz allegedly brought a person named Rizwan from Delhi to the module.
The agency also learned that the gang had visited locations in Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara, and had sent teams there to investigate what they had planned to do. The ATS had handed over the case to the NIA on August 8 after arresting two more accused – Akif Atiq Nachan and Zulfikar Ali Barodawala – in Thane district.
During the investigation, the NIA learned that a foreign-based handler had possibly put Shahnawaz in touch with instructions to carry out a terror attack in February.