NIA arrests Saquib Nachan’s son in Pune ISIS module case
The NIA has arrested Shamil Nachan, son of convicted terrorist Saquib Nachan, in connection with the ISIS module busted in Pune.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested another person in connection with the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) module that was busted by police in Pune on July 18.
The sixth accused, Shamil Nachan, is the son of Saquib Nachan who has been convicted and sentenced to 10 years in jail in connection with three bomb blasts at Mumbai Central railway station, Vile Parle and Mulund in 2002 and 2003.
The NIA claimed that Shamil, a resident of Padgha in Thane, was in touch with the other arrested accused identified as Zulfikar Ali Barodawala, Mohammed Imran Khan, Mohammed Yunus Saki, Simab Nasiruddin Kazi and Abdul Kadir Pathan, along with other suspects who are on the agency’s radar.
The probe was later transferred to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). The NIA took over the probe this week and produced the five accused before a special court on Wednesday. They were remanded in the NIA’s custody till August 14.
Khan and Saki, who were members of the ‘Sufa terrorist gang’, were declared ‘most wanted’ by the NIA in April 2022 in connection with a terror case in Rajasthan. The six accused were operating from a house in Kondhwa, Pune, where they had assembled IEDs and held bomb training and making workshop last year, sources said.
The agency claimed in a release that “the accused had also carried out a controlled explosion at this location to test an IED fabricated by them. During investigation the agency found that the accused had plans to commit terrorist acts with the intention to disturb peace and communal harmony of the country. They had planned to wage a war against the government of India in furtherance of the ISIS agenda”.
On December 6, 2002, a bomb exploded at Mumbai Central railway station, injuring 27 people. The second blast occurred in Vile Parle on January 27, 2003. One woman died and 25 people were injured. On March 13, 2003, a bomb went off on a Karjat-bound train at Mulund station, leaving 11 dead and 82 injured.