Pune man held for ‘ISIS links’, father asks: ‘What will happen to us, him’

“Some officers came to the house around 3.30-4 am on Monday. Zubair, his wife and three children were here and I had no clue what was happening. The officers started looking into cupboards, desks, everywhere. I had heard of such raids of Income Tax or ED, so I thought it would be those agencies. But I wondered what my son had to do with them. We later found out that they were NIA officers and had a warrant to search our place,” Noor Mohammed told The Indian Express at his home in Vazir Cascade, a housing complex in Kondhwa.

“Two-three hours after the search, they took Zubair with them and later, during the day, we got to know that he was taken to Mumbai and arrested by the NIA,” Noor Mohammed said.

According to Zubair’s father, the family shifted to this flat about four months ago. “We used to live in Khadki earlier. We shifted to Kondhwa 10 years ago. We have changed our house many times since then but only in Kondhwa.” Asked for the reason behind the multiple shifts, Noor Mohammed said he did not want to talk about it.

According to the NIA, its raids followed credible inputs that the four arrested accused and their associates “had recruited youth and trained them in the fabrication of Improvised Explosive Devices and weapons”.

“The accused had also shared relevant material, including Do it Yourself (DIY) kits amongst themselves for fabrication of IEDs and manufacture of small weapons, pistols, etc,” the agency said in a statement, which listed an alias of Zubair as “Abu Nusaiba”.

Asked about the allegations, Noor Mohammed said, “This is all very confusing. I don’t believe it. Zubair used to work for an IT company in the past and lost his job three-four years ago. He had been doing small businesses since then and was also simultaneously applying and interviewing for various jobs. He started working for a company just three-four months ago… I don’t know what company it is and what his job is but it is somewhere near Chikhali (on the outskirts).”

The NIA statement also alleged that its “teams seized several incriminating materials, such as electronic gadgets and several documents related to ISIS, during the searches at the houses of the accused”. “The material seized clearly exposed the strong and active linkages of the accused with ISIS and their efforts to motivate vulnerable youth to further the terror organisation’s anti-India agenda,” it said.

Asked about his son’s family, Noor Mohammed said Zubair got married eight years ago. “He has three children — two daughters and a son. His wife went to her parents’ house, with the children, after all this happened. My two other sons have gone to Mumbai and are speaking to a lawyer. I hope things are clear soon,” he said.