Delhi Police nab India's most wanted ISIS terror suspect Shahnawaz alias Uzzama

The Delhi Police on Monday (Oct 2) arrested a suspected Islamic State terrorist, who was on top of the Wanted List of India's National Investigation Agency (NIA), after a massive search operation.

The man has been identified as Shahnawaz alias Shafi Uzzama, and was wanted in a case dubbed as 'Pune ISIS module', named after a city in western India's Maharashtra state.

Shahnawaz had escaped from Pune police's custody and was living in a purported hideout in New Delhi.

The NIA had announced a cash reward of ₹3 lakh ($3,606) for information on Shahnawaz.

From engineer to terror suspect: Who is Shahnawaz alias Shafi Uzzama?

Shahnawaz is a mining engineer and came to the National Capital Region after fleeing Pune and had been living.

The NIA last month released pictures of four terror suspects, including that of Shahnawaz, wanted in the Pune ISIS module case.The agency announced a reward money of ₹3 lakh each for information on them leading to their arrest.

The other three suspects have been identified as Talha Liyakat Khan from Pune, and Rizwan Abdul Haji Ali and Abdulla Faiyaz Shaikh alias Daiperwala,from Delhi.

How did Shahnawaz escape Pune police's custody?

Shahnawaz and two others - Mohammad Imran Mohammad Yunus Khan, 23, and Mohammad Yunus Mohammad Yakub Saki, 24- were arrested by Pune Police on July 18 after they were found attempting to steal a two-wheeler.

According to the reports citing the account of the police, Shahnawaz jumped out of the police vehicle and managed to escape while the police weretaking him to his residency in Pune city for a search operation.

Potential danger posed by Shahnawaz

According to a report in Hindustan Times, on questioning Khan and Saki, the police learned that they 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 ($6,012) each, a police officer was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

On further probe, the police found acid and explosive-making material that incriminated Shahnawaz.

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The Anti-Terrorism Squad also reportedly seized several other materials and found 500 GB data in the laptops and mobile phones of the accused. They also found links to YouTube videos on making bombs and Google images of various places, Hindustan Times reported

The report added that the NIA found during the investigation that a foreign-based handler had possibly instructed Shahnawaz to execute a terror strike.

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