Two more ‘ISIS members’ held in UP, Aurangabad

Another suspected ISIS recruit, a Mazgaon businessman arrested on Friday, tells NIA court he “made a mistake”

Continuing the nationwide crackdown on alleged members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), the Maharashtra Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested two more men claimed to be associated with the terrorist group on Saturday.

College students protest against the ISIS, outside the Mumbra Railway Station on Saturday. (Praful Gangurde)

On Friday night, a team from the Maharashtra ATS and the Uttar Pradesh ATS arrested Khalid Ahmed Ali Nawazuddin, alias Rizwan, from Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh. Another team of ATS officers arrested 26-year-old Imran Moazzam Khan Pathan from Badi Masjid in the Waijapur area of Aurangabad district.

2 held for alleged links with ISIS; NIA probes IM role

Imran is unemployed, while Khalid is believed to have links to four young men from Malwani who were allegedly radicalised by ISIS sympathisers in 2015, according to a police source. The four – Ayaz Sultan, Mohsin Ibrahim Sayyed, Wajid Sheikh and Noor Mohammed Sheikh – had left their homes in Malwani last year. While Wajid and Noor have since returned, Ayaz is believed to have travelled to Iraq, while Mohsin’s location is unknown.

Jamil’s relatives and well-wishers had gathered at the court on Saturday, where his second wife denied all the allegations against him and said he was innocent.

When told that Jamil had admitted guilt in court, she said he had made the statement under pressure. She said the family was shocked to learn about his arrest and were only told about it 12 hours later. “We were clueless [about the arrest]. We are sure he is innocent. Why would a man with so many responsibilities get into such activities? He has four daughters, including two of marriageable age, and three families to support,” she said. Jamil’s lawyer Sabnam Shaikh said, “He has been falsely implicated in the case.”

On Friday, Maharashtra ATS and the NIA had also arrested 33-year-old Mudabbir Shaikh from Mumbra, claiming he was one of the key recruiters for ISIS in India.