New Delhi:

All the three terror suspects arrested in the crackdown on the ISIS network in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh today are engineers by education and had expertise in making bombs, police have said.

HGS Dhaliwal, senior officer in Delhi Police Special Cell, said one of the three terror suspects arrested today is Mohammad Shahnawaz, who was on the most wanted list of National Investigation Agency (NIA). The NIA had last month announced a cash award of Rs 3 lakh each for information about Shahnawaz and two others, who allegedly played key roles in blasts in different parts of the country.

The other two arrested are Shahnawaz’s associates Mohammed Rizwan Ashraf and Mohammed Arshad Warsi, Mr Dhaliwal said.

While Shahnawaz was arrested from Delhi’s Jaitpur, Rizwan and Ashraf were caught from Lucknow and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, respectively.

Police said they have recovered a pistol, items used in bombmaking, chemicals and Jihadi literature from Pakistan at Shahnawaz’s Delhi hideout. The three suspects, Mr Dhaliwal said, had conducted recce in different parts of the country and tested bombs.

They would stay in touch with their ISIS handler and shared reports on a regular basis. They had been instructed to procure all items they need locally so that external role in their work is not exposed, polie said.

Shahnawaz, police said, is from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand. A mining engineer by education, he had knowledge of engineering blasts. His wife was a Hindu by birth but had converted to Islam before they married. She is on the run now.

Mohammed Arshad Warsi, police said, is also from Jharkhand. He had completed a BTech in Mechanical Engineering from Aligarh University and had been pursuing a doctorate from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.

Mohammed Rizwan Ashraf holds a BTech in computer science. Originally from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, he had trained as a cleric too.

Mr Dhaliwal said the ongoing crackdown has exposed the pan-India module of ISIS. “Their aim was to target well-know people and inflict maximum casualties,” he said, adding that they have also uncovered the funding trail behind such activities.

New Delhi:

A suspected ISIS terrorist, who was on the most wanted list of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), has been arrested in Delhi during a big crackdown by the anti-terror agency.

Shahnawaz alias Shafi Uzzama was arrested by the special cell of Delhi Police from a hideout in the national capital. The Delhi Police special cell is among several agencies working with the NIA to crack down on terror networks across several states.

The cops have also detained several persons suspected to be sleeper cells of the terrorist organisation.

Shahnawaz, an engineer by profession, was wanted in the ISIS Pune module case. According to sources, Shahnawaz is originally from Delhi but had moved to Pune. In July, during a raid in Pune, two of his associates were arrested. Shahnawaz managed to flee and returned to Delhi. He had been living in a hideout since.

Earlier this month, the NIA had announced a cash reward of Rs 3 lakh each for information about Shahnawaz and three other terror suspects — Rizwan Abdul Haji Ali, Abdulla Faiyaz Shaikh alias Diaperwala and Talha Liyakat Khan.

Shahnawaz, Abdulla and Rizwan were radicalised into joining the ISIS mission over Telegram app, it is learnt. It is alleged that they were linked to an ISIS module at Pune in Maharashtra. They wanted to engineer violence and terror in the country, NIA sources said. According to sources, Abdulla ran a diaper store at Pune that was used to assemble explosive devices. He may try to escape to Oman, NIA sources have said.

Rizwan Ali is from Delhi. He and his younger brother were arrested in 2018 for alleged ISIS links, but security agencies could not find evidence against them. He was released after a deradicalisation programme. He went to Pune after two years back, told his family that he is running a computer business. He married and lived there with his wife. The couple returned to Delhi after Rizwan’s father started keeping unwell. Two months back, he left his home.