NIA makes sixth arrest in Pune ISIS module case | Mumbai News
THE NIA on Friday arrested Shamil Saquib Nachan in connection with the Pune ISIS module case for his alleged active involvement in promoting terrorist activities of terror group ISIS. This is the sixth arrest by the NIA in the case.
Accused Shamil Saquib Nachan is the son of Saquib Nachan who was earlier convicted and served a 10-year sentence for his role in the 2002-03 triple blast case in Mumbai. He was released after serving his sentence in 2017.
NIA on Friday said that Shamil, a resident of Padgha in Thane, was found involved in the fabrication, training and testing of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) for commission of terrorist acts.
He had been working in collaboration with five other accused, identified as Zulfikar Ali Barodawala, Mohammed Imran Khan, Mohammed Yunus Saki, Simab Nasiruddin Kazi and Abdul Kadir Pathan, along with some other suspects, the agency said.
Two of the accused, namely Imran Khan and Mohammed Yunus Saki, were members of the ‘Sufa terrorist gang’ and were absconding. NIA had declared them ‘most wanted’ in a case relating to recovery of explosives from a car in Rajasthan in April 2022, the agency said.
These members of an ISIS sleeper module, including Shamil, were operating from a house in Kondhwa, Pune, where they had assembled IEDs and also organised and participated in bomb training and making at their workshop last year.
They had also carried out a controlled explosion at this location to test an IED fabricated by them, the agency said.
The agency further said their probe into the ISIS Pune module case on August 3, 2023, has shown that the accused had plans to commit terrorist acts with the aim to disturb peace and communal harmony of the country. They had planned to wage a war against the government in furtherance of the ISIS agenda.
It may be recalled that a team from the Pune City police nabbed Khan, Saki and their aide Shahnawaz Shafiurrehman Alam (31), while they were allegedly trying to steal a vehicle from Kothrud area in the early hours of July 18.
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Police said Alam escaped from their custody when the suspects were being taken for a house search in Kondhwa.
Initially an FIR was registered against the three suspects at Kothrud police station. Further probe revealed that the accused were allegedly involved in terror acts, besides the chemical powder recovered from their house was found to be an explosive material.
The ATS then took over the investigation of the case on July 22 and invoked sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Later the probe was handed over to the NIA.