New Delhi: Delhi Police on Monday arrested three suspected Islamic State (IS) terrorists, wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), after a long search operation.
According to Delhi Police, the module was planning to carry out terror incidents in North India, taking instructions from foreign-based handlers. "Incriminating material recovered including materials suspected to be used for IED fabrication," police said. One of the suspected terrorist has been identified as Shahnawaz and has been arrested by Delhi Police’s Special Cell, just days after NIA announced a reward of Rs 3 lakh on him.
"Delhi Police Special Cell arrests NIA's most wanted terrorist Shahnawaz alias Shafi Uzzama. NIA had placed a reward of Rs 3 lakhs on the arrested terrorist Shahnawaz, who was wanted in the Pune ISIS case," Delhi police said.
Last month, the NIA released pictures of four terror suspects, including that of Shahnawaz, wanted in the Pune ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) module case and declared a reward money of Rs 3 lakh each for credible information on them leading to their arrest.
The agency has said that the identity of the informant will be kept confidential. An engineer by profession, Shahnawaz had escaped from Pune police custody and was living in Delhi, police said.
Delhi Police Special Cell has also detained some other people. Further investigation is underway. Shahnawaz was briefly caught by Pune Police on the intervening night of July 17-18 when he was trying to steal a motorcycle in the Kothrud area of Pune. During investigation, it had came to light that a foreign-based handler had possibly put Shahnawaz in touch with two other terror operatives with instructions to execute a terror strike.
The ISIS came into existence in 2013. It is considered to be the most dreaded and richest terrorist organisation which runs with a budget of two billion dollars. In 2014, it declared its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the Caliph. In recent times, ISIS has lost much of its ground in Iraq and Syria.
