NIA raids in Maharashtra-Karnataka in ISIS conspiracy case

NIA conducted search operations at 43 locations in Maharashtra and one in Karnataka. Maximum raids were conducted at 31 places in Thane Rural, two in Pune, 9 in Thane City, one in Bhayandar and one place each in Karnataka. According to sources in the investigating agency, a network associated with ISIS has been discovered, which was trying to spread the ideology of ISIS in India. This entire network was being run by handlers sitting abroad.

Their aim was to carry out terrorist activities in India. These people used to include youth influenced by ISIS ideology in India into their organization. They were given training in making IED.

NIA had earlier also taken action in Pune in the ISIS module case. Seven people were arrested from here. On November 6, a charge sheet was filed against these 7 accused. On November 12, it was revealed that all the seven accused were highly educated. These people worked in renowned companies and used to talk in codewords to make Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). NIA has filed a 4 thousand page charge sheet in the court. Apart from this, the accused also used easily available items like washing machine timer, thermometer, speaker wire, 12 watt bulb, 9 watt battery, filter paper, matchsticks and baking soda to make the IED.

The accused had conducted recce in Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala and Karnataka to carry out terrorist attacks. He also used a drone for photography and videography, which has been seized by the agency.

What is Pune ISIS module case?
On July 18 this year, Pune Police had arrested Shahnawaz and two people from Madhya Pradesh – Mohammad Imran Khan and Mohammad Saki, in connection with the theft of a two-wheeler in Pune. When the police was taking him to his hideout for questioning, Shahnawaz escaped by jumping from the police car.

During the interrogation of Mohammad Imran Khan and Mohammad Saki, the police came to know that both were part of the Sufa terrorist gang. In April 2022, the police there are searching for him in the case of explosives being found in a car in Rajasthan.

Then the police named this case Pune ISIS module case. In this case, the police had kept three more terrorists in the most wanted list. Their names are Talha Liaquat Khan of Pune and Rizwan Abdul Haji Ali and Abdullah Faiyaz Shaikh of Delhi.

The mastermind and financier of this case is IT engineer
NIA says that Imran, Yunus and Shahnawaz have links with Zulfikar Ali Bordwala, an engineer working in a Pune IT firm. Zulfikar was arrested on July 3 in a case related to ISIS. He is lodged in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail.

An NIA officer told Bhaskar that Zulfikar is the mastermind and financier of this case. He provided training to Imran, Yunus and Shahnawaz and sent money. Kadir Dastagir Pathan, who delivered the money to Imran, has also been arrested by the police.

Doctor Adnan was getting poor youth to join ISIS
During the interrogation of all four, NIA got the name of Dr. Adnan. When NIA raided his flat, documents related to ISIS were found. NIA confiscated all the electronic gadgets of Adnan. An officer associated with the Central Investigation Agency said that the documents found with Adnan revealed that he has links with ISIS. It also has details of linking poor youth with terrorist organizations.

Apart from this, photographs of Jewish Community Center have been recovered from 4 accused. This made it clear that not only India but also the people of Israel are the target of ISIS. After this, Mumbai Police increased the security of Chabad House in Colaba. Chabad House was also attacked during the terrorist attack on Mumbai on 26 November 2008.

After interrogating the five accused including Adnan, NIA reached Akif Atiq Nachan. He is expert in testing IED. It was he who hid Imran and Mohammad Yunus. Akif was arrested after raids in Mumbai's Borivali, Thane and Bhiwandi.

Terrorists wanted to carry out aerial blast through drone
A Maharashtra ATS official said that a pen drive with 500 GB memory was recovered from the captured terrorists. Recovering their deleted data. During interrogation, it was revealed that he was given training in different methods of attack. The bomb blast was tested in the forests of Pune, Kolhapur and Satara. They lived in tents in the forest. They were learning the technique of aerial blast through drones.

According to the officer, one of the arrested accused, Mohammad Imran, is a graphics designer. NIA had placed a reward of Rs 5 lakh on him. This case is registered in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan. A case was registered against Imran and his two associates at Kothrud police station under sections of theft, forgery, Indian Arms Act and Maharashtra Police Act. Later, a case was registered against everyone under UAPA.

The officer said that the items recovered from the accused and their training indicate that they were planning to carry out a major attack soon.

Took training in making IED in Kondwa flat
In the remand application given in the court, NIA said that the accused had conspired to further the terrorist activities of ISIS. They were preparing the Maharashtra module of ISIS in the country. An NIA official said that Akif Atiq Nachan had purchased the material used in making IED. He stayed in the Kondwa flat of Imran and Yunus for several days and used to train them. He had given training in bomb making in 2022. In this, demo IED was also made and shown.

The officer said that apart from the arrested accused, some other people had participated in this training. Their search is on. All of them were working on the instructions of ISIS.

Evidence of training found in documents recovered from Nachan's house
NIA official said that Akif Atiq Nachan's house is in Padga, Thane. Several mobile phones, some hard disks and handwritten documents were found from the house. Everyone is being investigated. These also include some documents of IED training.

It is clear from the arrest of these accused that ISIS is trying to increase its presence in India. All the accused are from Kondwa area. Kondwa, with a population of 5 lakh, was the stronghold of banned terrorist organizations SIMI and Indian Mujahideen before 2008. Information was received about more than 300 terrorists being active here.

In 2010, two terrorists of Pakistani terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba were arrested from Kondwa. They were planning to attack the Indian Science Institute in Bengaluru. In 2014, NIA had arrested a person. In 2022, NIA arrested 5 people who were associated with the ISIS module.