NIA declares reward for info on 4 suspects in Pune ISIS module case

NIA releases pictures of four terror suspects wanted in the Pune ISIS case, offering a reward of ₹3 lakh each for information leading to their arrest.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has released pictures of four terror suspects wanted in the Pune ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) module case and declared a reward money of ₹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.

Mohammad Shahnawaz Shafiuzzama Alam

The four have been identified as Mohammad Shahnawaz Shafiuzzama Alam alias Shafi Ujjama Alam aka Abdulla from Jharkhand, Talha Liyakat Khan from Pune, and Rizwan Abdul Haji Ali and Abdulla Faiyaz Shaikh alias Daiperwala, both from Delhi.

Alam and two others - Mohammad Imran Mohammad Yunus Khan, 23, and Mohammad Yunus Mohammad Yakub Saki, 24, - were arrested by the Kothrud police in Pune on July 18 after they were found attempting to steal a two-wheeler. While the police were taking them to their residence at Kondhwa in Pune for a search Alam jumped out of the police vehicle and managed to escape.

On questioning Khan and Saki, the police learned that they were from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and were allegedly involved in a terror case registered in Rajasthan after explosives were found in a car in March 2022. They also carried a bounty of ₹5 lakh each, a police officer said.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) took over the probe on July 22. During further investigation, ATS arrested a few more suspects, including Qadir Dastagir Pathan, an IT engineer, and SN Kazi, at Kondhwa. The agency invoked sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against Khan, Saki and other accused.

After Khan and Saki said that Alam had kept some acid at Bopatghat near Kondhwa, the agency took the help of the Bomb Disposal and Detection Squad and seized the acid and several other chemicals which were used to make bombs.

ATS also seized several other materials and found 500 GB data in the laptops and mobile phones of the accused which contained links to YouTube videos on making bombs and google images of various places. The data had been sent to a forensic science laboratory for analysis, agency officials said and added that the accused had even set up a small laboratory in their house in Pune.

The agency also found out that the gang had visited places in Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara, and sent teams there to check as to what they had planned to do.

After ATS arrested two more accused - Aakif Ateeque Nachan and Zulfikar Ali Barodawala in Thane district - on August 8, the case was handed over to NIA.

The agency thereafter arrested Shamil Nachan, son of Saquib Nachan who has been convicted and sentenced to 10 years in jail for his involvement in three bomb blast cases registered in Mumbai in 2002 and 2003.

Other than Alam, the names of Talha Liyakat Khan, Rizwan Abdul Haji Ali and Abdulla Faiyaz Shaikh cropped up during interrogation of accused, NIA officers said.