A big revelation has been made in the investigation of Maharashtra ATS in the Naya Nagar stabbing case of Mira Road adjacent to Mumbai. According to the investigating agencies, accused Zaib Zubair Ansari (31) had allegedly expressed loyalty to the terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS) and had committed this crime in an attempt to join the organization. ATS has also found a handwritten letter from his home, in which he had expressed allegiance to ISIS.
During the interrogation of ATS, it has come to light that the accused Zubair wanted to join ISIS, but when he could not be contacted, he himself decided to carry out a 'Lone Wolf' attack. According to sources, during interrogation, the accused admitted that he was trying to contact ISIS through dark web and encrypted platforms for the last four months.
However, when he did not get any response, he decided to carry out a lone wolf attack so that the terrorist organization's attention would be drawn towards him. In the letter recovered during the investigation, inflammatory language has allegedly been used against non-Muslims. There was a warning about a lone wolf attack. Along with this, radical messages like Gaza will be free only from the Caliphate were also written.
ATS officials believe that Ansari was influenced by online radical material in recent years. Investigation also revealed that he had started becoming mentally disturbed after continuous failures in his personal life. It is being told that he was divorced from his American wife of Afghan origin. Apart from this, he also lost his online teaching job in Abu Dhabi in December 2025. After these incidents, he became socially isolated and struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts.
According to the investigating agencies, after losing his job, he started watching radical propaganda material continuously and got associated with extremist ideology through encrypted channels. According to ATS sources, he had purchased a knife before the incident. The investigation also revealed that he was torn between committing suicide and committing an attack, but ultimately chose the violent path so that he could get identified. Officials say that he was trying to repeat an incident like the recent Pahalgam terrorist attack.
Zaib Zubair Ansari is originally from Kurla, Mumbai. In the year 2000, he went to America with his family. He graduated in Chemistry and worked as a sports teacher between 2016 and 2018. Later he had to return to India as his work permit expired.
After returning to India in 2019, he lived with relatives in Kurla for some time and then shifted to Mira Road in 2023. After the online marriage arranged by the family, he started living in a rented flat in Mira Road, where he used to pay around Rs 18,000 per month as rent, however, later his marriage broke up. After this, he got a job teaching Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics in Abu Dhabi, but that job also ended, leaving him in financial and mental crisis. Although no information has been received yet whether he was doing online teaching job in Mira Road or Mumbai, but according to ATS sources, Ansari has done the work of giving online tuition to children.
