Jharkhand: Arrested ISIS terrorist Faizan Ansari was in contact with his handlers through dark net, says NIA

NIA sources said that digital evidence has been recovered from the accused which establish that Ansari was in contact with the handlers for the past many months.

Ranchi: The alleged ISIS terrorist Faizan Ansari, arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Lohardaga area in Jharkhand, was in contact with ISIS agents from across the country and abroad through the dark net, investigators said on Thursday. Many digital evidences were seized by NIA from the possession of Faizan Ansari.

Sources said that concrete evidence has been received about his contact with ISIS.

Faizan was connected through dark net:According to sources in the NIA, Faizan Ansari was in contact with ISIS terrorists through dark net. He was living in Lohardaga for the last two months and was active in Islamic Jihad from his home, the NIA said. The NIA team was keeping an eye on him for the last one week.

Faizan Ansari was arrested only after the central investigative agencies got concrete information about him being a sleeper cell of ISIS, claimed the agency. The NIA team of Ranchi arrested Faizan from the Jharkhand capital. The NIA said that his laptop was examined from which many “incriminating” documents were recovered.

The NIA said that during the course of the investigation, it has also been learned that Faizan was continuously working on the instructions of his handlers. The Ranchi NIA team will take Faizan Ansari on remand after presenting him in NIA court for further investigation. The agency is now trying to find out whether any other sleeper cells were set up by Faizan in Jharkhand.

According to NIA sources, Faizan came in contact with ISIS while studying at Aligarh Muslim University. Faizan is a resident of Mittal Colony of Lohardaga. His father Firoz Ansari is a contract employee in BSNL.