Delhi Police Special Cell busts Pune ISIS module, arrests NIA wanted terrorist Shahnawaz Alam

New Delhi, October 4

The Delhi Police Special Cell busts Pune ISIS module and arrests wanted terrorist Shahnawaz Alam and two more terrorists. The Pak ISI sponsored module disguised as ISIS module was at the advanced stage of planning terror strikes in Delhi.

The Special Cell conducted raids at multiple locations of Delhi, Dehradun, Aligarh, Lucknow, Moradabad, Prayagraj. 

Shahnawaz Alam was carrying a reward of Rs three lakhs from NIA on his arrest after he absconded from Pune in August this year. 

Shahnawaz Alam alias Abdullah alias Md. Ibrahim alias Prince from Hazaribagh Jharkhand was arrested along with Mohammad Rizwan Ashraf (28) from Lucknow and Md. Arshad Warsi (29) from New Delhi

The officials said that Shahnawaz Alam previously involved in more than half a dozen cases of armed robbery and other cases committed for accumulating Maal-e-Ghanimat.

The  team seized one semi-automatic pistol of .32 bore with seven live cartridges and incriminating material used in making IEDs recovered

The Special Cell had received inputs that in order to carry out terror activities in India, while simultaneously trying to hide its role and to circumvent scrutiny by international agencies, Pak-ISI has created a façade of India focused ISIS by using PAK based and protected terrorists who are fugitive from India, namely Farahtullah Gauri and his son-in-law Shahid Faisal (both absconding accused involved in Akshardham Temple attack case and presently hiding in Pakistan while working for Pak-ISI). Pak-ISI has been learnt to have emphasized on collecting funds through crime (Maal-e-Ghanimat) for this network so that this could be projected as a “Home Grown” and “Self Radicalized network”. 

The officials added that one such module was identified with footprints in UP, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand & Maharashtra. While developing the information, two ISIS operatives namely Imran Khan and Yunus Saaki were arrested in Pune, Maharashtra by Pune Police. However, one of the arrested persons namely Shahnawaz Alam alias Abdullah manage to escape from the police custody. 

The case was later transferred to NIA for further investigation, who later declared a reward of Rs. 3 lakhs on the arrest of absconding terrorist Shahnawaz Alam @ Abdullah @ Md. Ibrahim @ Prince and 3 other accused.       

The Special Cell received information that Shahnawaz is moving along with one Rizwan Ali of Delhi and they along with their other associates, have been planning to carry out terrorist activities in Delhi and adjoining area and are in the advance stage of preparations and have procured Arms, Ammunition and Explosives for this purpose and have set up base in Delhi. 

During investigation, Md. Arshad Warsi arrested in the present case from Delhi disclosed that Shahnawaz Alam is known to him and he is an accomplice in the conspiracy to carry out terrorist activities in Delhi and adjoining areas along with Shahnawaz and others. He also revealed that Shahnawaz Alam has procured Arms, Ammunition and Explosives and taken a rented room in Delhi in furtherance of their criminal conspiracy. 

Mohammad Rizwan Ashraf was also arrested in the present case from Lucknow, UP. He disclosed that he is a member of ISIS and is in communication with foreign based handler and remaining members of this module. He further told that Shahnawaz Alam and Rizwan took pledge (‘Baith’) into ISIS through him. 

Thereafter, Shahnawaj Alam was arrested from a rented accommodation after a brief scuffle with the police team. From his possession one pistol of .32 bore with 7 live cartridges was recovered. In 

Md. Shahnawaz Alam was born at Mission Hospital, Hazaribagh, Jharkhand in a middle-class family. His father, Shafiuzzama Khan, was Govt. teacher (now retired) and mother Husneambar is a house-wife. He has 02 younger brothers and 03 younger sisters. He initially studied at St. Xavier School, Hazaribagh from 1st standard to 10th standard (2009). He completed his 12th standard from Radha Govind Senior Secondary School, Hazaribagh in year 2011. During his secondary education he moved to Kota for AIEEE coaching. He cleared AIEEE examination and completed his B.Tech. in Mining from NIT Visveswaraya, Nagpur in the year 2016.  

PRELIMINARY INTERROGATION

Shahnawaz Alam came to Delhi in November 2016 for SSC competitive examination preparation and started staying at Abul Fazal enclave. He used to go to listen to HuT lectures at Shaheen Bagh, New Delhi. This was the time when Shahnawaz decided to leave HuT as he was influenced by the ideology of ISIS from his college days. After that he started following the concepts of ISIS, various twitter accounts and News channels who professed ISIS ideology.

Shahnawaz met with Rizwan Ali in Shaheen Masjid, Shaheen Bagh, Delhi in 2016. Over a period of time, they became good friends. Shahnawaz already followed many pro ISIS telegram entities/channels and use to disused about those channels with Rizwan Ali who was also inclined to ISIS ideology.

Shahnawaz and Rizwan wanted to go for Hijrat and in order to collect funds for their Hijrat, both of them got indulged in crime. Shahnawaz was arrested in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand in multiple cases of dacoity and theft in the year 2019 and remained in jail for 8/9 months. In December 2020, he was bailed out from jail. 

Later on, he started communicating with a foreign based handler of ISIS. Meanwhile Rizwan also established contact with the same handler. They visited Lavasa Mahabaleshwar, Goa, Hubli, Saraswati Wildlife area in Karnataka, Udupi, Kerala, Valsad Wildlife Sanctuary, Nallamala Mountain ranges, Chandauli to find suitable hideouts for their stay in Western Ghats and to set up a base there. Shahnawaz also conducted recce of some potential areas like crowded places, Mazar/ Dargah, routes of VIP political leaders in Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad for planting IEDs and target killings. He also analyzed the map of West Rajasthan to find out the IED testing point. 

Meanwhile in March 2021, Shahnawaz got married with Ms. Basanti Patel alias Khadeeja Maryam (converted) in Aligarh, UP. After his return from Aligarh, they decided to make some IEDs in Delhi until they find some suitable contacts for Hijrat to Afghanistan. After making IED they tested the same at several places in Delhi, Rajasthan and Haldwani, Uttarakhand. 

In the year April 2022, they met with arrested accused Imran and Yunus Saaki in Pune. On 18th July 2023, during Police Patrolling Shahnawaz, Imram and Yunus were apprehended by Pune Police while they were committing theft of a M/Cycle but Shahnawaz managed to escape from there.

Since December 2022, on the instructions of foreign based handler, Shahnawaz, Rizwan along with their other associates had started accumulating material in Delhi for preparation of IED in furtherance of their conspiracy to carry out blast in Delhi. 

Md. Arshad Warsi s/o Waris Khan 

Md. Arshad Warsi was born at the Government Hospital, District Garhwa, Jharkhand, in a middle-class family. His father, Waris Khan, is a teacher at Government High School, Manjhiaon, Garhwa, Jharkhand, and his mother, Raushan Ara, is a housewife. He has 02 brothers and 01 younger sister.

He began his education at R.K. Public School, Garhwa, Jharkhand, from the 4th to the 5th standard (2002-04). Later, he pursued his studies at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Uttar Pradesh, and did B. Tech. in Mechanical Engineering (2004-2016). Thereafter he moved to Delhi and studied in Jamia Millia University and completed his MBA in Marketing & Operations (2016-18). Presently, he is perusing Ph. D. from Jamia Millia University in Islamic Principles in Management. Besides his academic pursuits, he works as a Physics teacher at Orchid Institute, Jamia Nagar, Delhi, and also provides home tuition in Science and Mathematics.

PRELIMINARY INTERROGATION

Md. Arshad Warsi came to Delhi in 2016 for studying MBA (Marketing & Operations) in Jamia Millia University and started living at R-121, 5th floor Mubarak Apartment Joga Bai extn. Jamia Nagar, ND. 

Md. Arshad Warsi came in contact with Shahnawaz during the Darsh programmes in Jamia Nagar and he is a participant in planning to carry out terrorist activities in Delhi and adjoining areas along with Shahnawaz and others. He also revealed that Shahnawaz Alam has procured Arms, Ammunition and Explosives and taken a rented room in Delhi in furtherance of their criminal conspiracy.

Md. Rizwan Ashraf s/o Md. Najeeb Ashraf 

Md. Rizwan Ashraf was born at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in a middle-class family. His father, Md. Najeeb Ashraf, was working in Saudi Arabia as a clerk in Shipping company and mother Shama Ashraf is a house-wife. He has 04 brothers and 02 younger sister.

He pursued his preliminary education at Noorul Huda English Medium School in Fatehpur City, Jamia tul Falah, Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, and completed Alimiyat in Arabic (equivalent to 12th) in year 2009. He completed B. Tech. (IT) from college in Ghaziabad/Noida in 2017. After completing B.Tech., he returned to Paryagraj and got married.

Md. Rizwan Ashraf is a member of ISIS and is in communication with the same foreign based handler as that of Shanawaz Alam and Rizwan and remaining members of this module. He took pledge (‘Baith’) into ISIS through his Pak based handler. He came in contact with Shanawaz Alam and Rizwan through a common contact and was involved in the conspiracy to carry out the terrorist activities in Delhi.