THE MAHARASHTRA ATS Tuesday arrested one person, who was earlier arrested by the National Investigation Agency in connection with ISIS module bust in the state, for his alleged links with the suspects accused of conducting bomb tests in the jungles of Pune, Kolhapur and Satara. The accused, Zulfikar Ali Barodawala, was among the alleged terror suspects arrested by the NIA from Padgha in Thane on July 3 for their alleged links to the banned outfit ISIS. According to the ATS probe, Barodawala was also involved in the alleged terror activities along with four suspects arrested this month — Mohammed Yusuf Khan (23), Mohammed Yunus Mohammed Yakub Saki (24), Qadir Dastagir Pathan (32) and an IT engineer SN Kazi, all currently residing in Kondhwa area of Pune. The ATS officials Tuesday took his custody from the Arthur road prison in Mumbai after obtaining a production warrant from the court in Pune. Khan and Saki (24), both from Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam, along with Mohammed Shahnawaz Shafiurrehman Alam (31) of Jharkhand, were arrested by the Pune city police when they were allegedly stealing a vehicle from Kothrud area on July 18. Police found they were residing at an apartment in Mitha Nagar in Kondhwa. But while the three were being taken for a house search, Alam escaped while the two others remained in police custody. Initially, an FIR was lodged against the three accused at Kothrud police station under relevant sections of the IPC, Indian Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act. Khan and Saki were found to be the “most wanted” accused in the Rajasthan Explosives Case of March 2022, being probed by NIA. Police claimed that they were part of the “Al Sufa' terror outfit linked to ISIS. ATS took over the investigation in this case on July 22. On July 26, the ATS arrested Pathan for allegedly providing shelter to Khan, Saki and Alam, despite knowing about their terror links. And on July 28, ATS arrested Kazi for allegedly providing “terror funds” to the arrested accused. Kazi is alleged to have provided money in cash to Pathan and via bank transactions. According to the ATS, material such as “chemical powder, charcoal, thermometer, dropper, soldering gun, multimeter, small bulbs, batteries, alarm clock," required for making bombs, were seized from Khan and Saki during investigation. The chemical powder seized is found in explosives, said officials. During a search at their house, police had also recovered various electronic items such as laptops, cell phones, tab, pen drives, hard disc, a drone and a weighing machine, maps, electronic circuit, Urdu and Arabic literature. ATS is investigating about 500GB data retrieved from the electronic gadgets seized from the suspects.
