The NIA has been successful in the ongoing action on the sleeper cell to ISIS active in India. The NIA has arrested a member of ISIS named Rizwan Ali. She is also known by surnames like Abu Salma and Mola. Be aware that he is the 11th person arrested in the ISIS Pune module case. Investigators believe that he was actively plotting terrorist attacks with the intention of destabilizing the country.

Used to give information to make IED
Be aware that Rizwan was absconding for months. A non-bailable warrant was issued by a special NIA court against him. A reward of Rs 3 lakh was kept on his arrest. According to the NIA, he was a central person in facilitating extremist actions. He allegedly worked to teach the methods of reconnaissance of potentially safe bases, organizing training sessions of weapons and explosives and making improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Rizwan’s arrest has been made during a comprehensive investigation recorded called RC-05/2023/NIA/MUM. The case targets a broad network of individuals, who are believed to be working in coordination to promote the ideology of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in India. Officials claim that the purpose of this module was to establish radical Islamic rule through targeted attacks, spreading communal unrest and violent sabotage.

10 arrests have already been done
Ten people have already been arrested in this case, including Mohammad Imran Khan, Mohammad Yunus Saki, Abdul Qadir Pathan, Simab Kazi, Zulfikar Barodawala, Shamil Nachan, Aqif Nachan, Shahnawaz Alam, Abdullah Sheikh and Talha Khan and others. All these have been filed on all these under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Explosives Act, Arms Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Each of these is accused of involvement in a planned conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts independently and possibly abroad. The evidence so far pointed to the preparation of violence in secret communication and urban centers through encrypted apps to systematically make weak youth systematically radical.

Investigation is going on, may be more arrests
The NIA said that the investigation of the case is still going on and will continue further. There is a possibility of more arrests in this case. Officers are investigating the sources of financing, identifying additional recruitments, and checking international relations that will be supporting the activities of this module. The agency stressed that demolishing such a sleeper cell is an important part of India’s anti-terrorism strategy. Especially when terrorist organizations are making strategies to take advantage of online platforms, encrypted communication and informal network. Rizwan Ali’s arrest is considered a significant success in demolishing a suspected terrorist module, which was believed to be an actively mature and ideological strong terrorist module.