ISIS Man Was Looking for Spots for Terror Attacks in North India, Training Camps | Pune, Delhi Modules Busted

With the arrest of Shahnawaz, declared a ‘wanted terrorist’ with a reward of Rs 3 lakh by the Nationalist Investigation Agency (NIA), along with his two associates, on Sunday, the special cell of the Delhi Police has busted both the Pune and Delhi modules of the Islamic State (IS or ISIS), according to police sources. Three others on the wanted list with Shahnawaz are still at large.

The investigation has revealed that Shahnawaz and his module wanted to carry out attacks across North India during the festive season, said police. They had also carried out a controlled blast in the jungles of Pune.

According to police sources, Shahnawaz was the common link between the Delhi and Pune module of the ISIS.

“Shahnawaz is a hardened terrorist. Over the past few months, he had conducted recces across north India. His task was finding locations to set up training camps in India. The recruitment was supposed to be done by his handlers," said sources.

He had also conducted several recces to locations that were to be attacked during this festive season, said sources. He was trained to make improvised explosive devices (IED) and was an expert. Incriminating documents, along with chemicals (liquid) used to make IEDs, were recovered from his house.

Shahnawaz, along with Mohammad Arshad Warsi and Mohammad Rizwan, was presented before the police on Monday morning through video-conferencing. They have been remanded in seven-day police custody.

On Saturday, the NIA, along with the Pune and Delhi Police, carried out raids in the national capital. However, these raids were unsuccessful and nothing significant was found.

THE ISIS PUNE MODULE

The ISIS’s Pune module was unearthed this year.

The Pune Police had arrested two people while stealing a motorcycle and the third was Shahnawaz, who had fled. Initially the pune police thought that these people are petty thieves, but sustained interrogation revealed that they were terrorists of ISIS and part of the sleeper cell.

The case was then handed over to Maharastra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which made a few arrests.

Considering the gravity, it was handed over to the NIA, which took seven people in custody.

The NIA had released the pictures of four wanted terrorists and announced a reward of Rs 3 lakh each. The group used to make IEDs.