In a big catch for the security establishment ahead of Independence Day, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Delhi Police on Monday arrested a man identified as Rizwan Ali, an IED expert and close associate of Shehnawaz Alam — the mastermind of the Pune ISIS module.
Top Intelligence sources told CNN-News18 that both Alam and Ali were part of a major global conspiracy being hatched by the Islamic State.
“Ali was trained under Alam, a hard-core ISIS member who was an expert in recruitment and fabrication of explosives and IEDs. He is also an expert in raising funds through the terror outfit’s Borivali-Padgha module.”
Ali’s interrogation details reveal that he wanted to hatch a conspiracy “to carry out terror blasts across the country in order to disturb peace and communal harmony and wage a war against the government of India”.
Sources said Ali, in his interrogation, explained how the duo managed to escape from Kondhwa Jail in July 2023. Though Alam was arrested in October the same year, Ali and his wife Alfiya remained absconding.
Both Ali and Alam were in contact with a foreign ISIS handler and they shifted to Delhi in 2022 on his instructions to find a hideout for arms and ammunition in the Western Ghats. They also wanted to conduct large-scale training for the outfit. In Pune, the handler introduced them to other pro-ISIS individuals like Imran Khan and Yunus Saki.
At his behest, they carried out several experiments to fabricate IEDs at their hideout in Pune. They also conducted test blasts in Delhi, Rajasthan, and Uttaranchal.
The duo conducted recce of several crowded places as well as VIP routes to figure out the best spots for planting of IEDs and target killings. They also made visits to Mumbai and Gujarat to see similar places to carry out attacks.
ALL ABOUT SHEHNAWAZ ALAM
Alam, who originally hails from Delhi, has done his engineering from NIT Nagpur. He would frequent the capital regularly and eventually, he got radicalised and met Ali.
In 2019-2020, Alam started learning making IEDs and got in touch with a foreign handler. Later, both Alam and Ali started learning IED-making with the help of their handler and online classes. Sources said they conducted three dry runs in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag, Haryana’s Nuh, and Delhi in controlled environments. Two of the attempts, however, were unsuccessful.
The handler later asked them to move to Pune where two more people were stationed and the four became regulars in learning how to make IEDs and explosives. They also conducted recces in groups of two in the marketplaces of Gujarat, the coastal area of Karnataka, Kannur, and Mumbai.
However, when the group was busted, they fled to Delhi where Alam, during his earlier stay, was in touch with an Aligarh Muslim university group. The terror outfit now had three types of groups operating — Pune, Aligarh and Delhi.
Armed with expertise in making IEDs and having conducted a recce of the possible targets, the men were waiting for the handler to inform them of their target.
Sources said the men drew their ideology from ISIS which believes that Kafirs (non-believers) should not be spared. “Their idea was to kill Hindu leaders, Jews and conduct killings in public places. Their motivation was atrocities against Muslims. It is possible that Pakistan-based handlers were behind the men but there is no concrete proof yet,” they said.
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