NIA makes sixth arrest in ISIS module case

Apart from assembling IEDs and purchasing materials and components for the fabrication of IEDs, Aakif facilitated the stay of Imran and Yunus at a house in Kondhwa in Pune. The accused had organised and participated in bomb-making workshops in Kondhwa in 2022 and was involved in the preparation of a demo IED and the conduct of a controlled explosion, said NIA

MUMBAI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday made the sixth arrest in connection with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) module busted by the federal agency recently.

HT Image

The NIA arrested Aakif Ateeque Nachan after a series of raids in Borivali, claiming he was involved in the fabrication and testing of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) for commission of terrorist acts and arranging a hideout for two other terror operatives.

Several incriminating materials, such as electronic gadgets and documents, were seized from their hideouts.

“Aakif was found actively involved in the promotion of the terror-related activities of ISIS, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation, in collaboration with four other accused, namely Zulfikar Ali Barodawala, Mohammed Imran Khan, Mohammed Yunus Saki, and Abdul Kadir Pathan, all arrested recently by ATS Pune, along with some other suspects,” NIA said in a statement.

Last month, the NIA arrested Tabish Nasser Siddiqui from Mumbai, Zubair Noor Mohammed Shaikh alias Abu Nusaiba from Pune, Sharjeel Shaikh and Zulfikar Ali Barodawala from Thane, and Dr Adnan Sarkar from Kondhwa, Pune.

Apart from assembling IEDs and purchasing materials and components for the fabrication of IEDs, Aakif facilitated the stay of Imran and Yunus at a house in Kondhwa in Pune. The accused had organised and participated in bomb-making workshops in Kondhwa in 2022 and was involved in the preparation of a demo IED and the conduct of a controlled explosion, said NIA.

According to NIA, the accused had hatched a conspiracy to further the terrorist activities of ISIS and planned to commit terrorist acts to disturb the unity, integrity, security, and sovereignty of the country and wage a war against the Government of India.