HYDERABAD: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at an apartment in Shankeshwar Bazar, Saidabad, under the Hyderabad commissionerate limits on Sunday in connection with the arrest of suspected ISIS member, Rizwan Ali. According to the NIA, Rizwan, an expert in making explosives, had planned to target various cities across India.
Agency sleuths, accompanied by Rizwan, searched the apartment where he had taken shelter for three months prior to his arrest. He was apprehended on August 9 this year in New Delhi.
According to the the agency, Delhi-based Rizwan joined the banned terrorist organisation in 2015-16 after completing his degree. In 2017, he came into contact with Shahnawaz, a native of Jharkhand, who had settled in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh. He is believed to have recruited several youngsters for ISIS through online platforms. Shahnawaz worked to expand the ISIS module in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Maharashtra and was involved in raising funds for terror operations within the country.
In June 2023, Pune police raided the ISIS module headed by Shahnawaz and arrested several people. The Mumbai branch of the NIA is currently investigating the case. Following the raid, Rizwan went into hiding, taking refuge in the Sambhal area of Uttar Pradesh.
The NIA had also announced a reward of Rs 3 lakh for information regarding Rizwan, identifying him as one of the most wanted terrorists. In January this year, the Delhi Special Cell police raided a base in Sambhal after tracking Rizwan’s movements. Although he narrowly escaped, Rizwan relocated to Hyderabad in March.
The NIA added that Rizwan has also been in contact with long-absconding terrorist Farhatullah Ghori, a resident of Kurmaguda in Hyderabad. Following Ghori’s advice, Rizwan came to Saidabad from Nampally Railway Station to search for rental accommodations. He found a vacant flat in Green View Apartments, Shankeshwar Bazar, and posed as a cloth merchant. He rented the apartment for Rs 4,000 per month and lived there for six months. Rizwan later travelled to Kerala before planning to carry out acts of vandalism during the Independence Day. For this, he returned to Delhi, where he was arrested by the Special Cell police. During his arrest on the Delhi-Faridabad border, a gun and bullets along with a recent photograph of Farhatullah Ghori were seized from his possession.
Rizwan was arrested on a PT warrant by Mumbai NIA officials in connection with the Pune ISIS module case. He was produced in a special court in Mumbai last week and taken into custody for further investigation. During this investigation, Rizwan’s connections to the Saidabad were uncovered. Subsequently, NIA officials brought him to Hyderabad on Sunday. The local police, along with the NIA, located the apartment and brought Rizwan in for further questioning.
Rs 3 lakh bounty
The NIA had announced a reward of Rs 3 lakh for information regarding Rizwan, identifying him as one of the most wanted terrorists in the nation. In January this year, the Delhi police raided a base in Sambhal after tracking Rizwan’s movements but he narrowly escaped from there.