NIA announces Rs 3 lakh reward on four ‘wanted’ terror suspects in ‘Pune ISIS module’

Alam was nabbed along with Mohammed Yusuf Khan (23) and Mohammed Yunus Mohammed Yakub Saki (24), both residents of Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, by the Pune city police while they were allegedly trying to steal a vehicle from Kothrud area in the early hours of July 18.

Police said Alam escaped from police custody when they were being taken for a house search in Kondhwa. Initially, an FIR was lodged against the three suspects at Kothrud police station under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Indian Arms Act.

Probe revealed that both Khan and Saki were “most wanted” by the NIA in a case relating to recovery of explosives from a car in Rajasthan in March 2022. NIA had earlier arrested and chargesheeted ten others along with the kingpin, Imran Khan, in the case. However, Mohammed Yusuf Khan and Saki had managed to escape to Mumbai and, subsequently, settle in Pune last year.

Posing as “graphic desingers”, Alam, Khan and Saki were residing at an apartment in Chetna Garden society in Mitha Nagar area of Kondhwa in Pune, police said.

Maharashtra ATS took over the Kothrud case from Pune city police on July 22 and invoked sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against Khan, Saki and other accused, for their alleged participation in terrorist activities.

Meanwhile, ATS arrested a few more suspects in this case including Qadir Dastagir Pathan (32) and an IT engineer S N Kazi (27), both residents of Kondhwa. ATS also picked up Aakif Ateeque Nachan of Mumbai and Zulfikar Ali Barodawala of Thane, who were earlier arrested by the NIA in the “Maharashtra ISIS module case”.

Then, on August 8, the case was transferred to the NIA, which referred to it as the “Pune ISIS module case”. During further probe, one Shamil Saquib Nachan was arrested from Thane.

The NIA alleged that the accused arrested in this case conducted bomb workshops in Pune. They allegedly prepared a demo IED and conducted a “controlled explosion” at Kondhwa. They are also alleged to have conducted bomb tests in jungles of Pune and other places. Explosive material, tents, a drone, several electronic devices were seized from their possession.

Probe revealed that accused Rizwan and Abdulla Shaikh were also residing at Chetna Garden society in Kondhwa, along with other terror suspects in this case. The NIA named them along with Talha Khan as accused in the “Pune ISIS module case”.

They raided Talha’s house in Mitha Nagar, Kondhwa in March 2022, in connection with the probe into the arrest of a Kashmiri couple with alleged links to Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP), the Afghanistan-based faction of the Islamic State (IS).

The Kashmiri couple, identified as Jahanzaib Sami Wani and his wife Hina Bashir Beigh, was first arrested by Delhi police on March 8, 2020. Later, the investigation into the case was taken over by the NIA.

During further investigation, the NIA had arrested four more persons in the case, including Sadiya Anwar Shaikh, a journalism student from Vishrantwadi in Pune, who was then 20 years old. The other three accused included a gymnasium operator Nabeel Siddiqui Khatri of Kondhwa, Abdulla Basith, and Abdul Rehman alias Dr Brave, an MBBS doctor from Bengaluru.

While Talha Khan was then not arrested by the NIA, a press release had stated that during a search at his house, various incriminating documents and digital devices were seized.

Now, Talha is on the run and NIA has appealed citizens to pass on information about him and other three absconding suspects to its head office (contact numbers: 011-24368800 and +918585931100) or Mumbai office (022-23550650, +917588707129). NIA has assured that the identity of the informant will be kept secret.

Meanwhile, in the last week of August, NIA had taken Khan and Saki’s custody in the Rajasthan terror conspiracy case for further investigation.