Alleged Islamic State terrorist Mohammad Shahnawaz is originally from Delhi and studied engineering at NIT Nagpur, top intelligence sources told CNN-News18 on Wednesday.
Shahnawaz, now arrested, was a frequent visitor to Delhi and was also busy with the medical care of his sister, according to his interrogation details. His father is a teacher in Hazaribagh.
He was regularly attending Dars (religious lectures), slowly got radicalised, and then met a man named Rizwan, said the sources.
In 2019-20, he allegedly started learning to make improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and got in touch with a foreign handler.
Both Rizwan and Shahnawaz started to learn IED-making with the help of the handler and online classes, sources said.
After making explosives, they did three dry runs in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag, Nuh in Haryana, and Delhi, the sources added. One of these was successful and two were unsuccessful.
They began work related to aksari (weaponry), finding hideouts, and targets, said sources.
The handler allegedly later asked Shahnawaz and Rizwan to move to Pune where two people, who have also been arrested from Chittorgarh, were staying.
The two groups would stay at different locations in Chittorgarh but would meet regularly.
These four regularly participated in learning IED and explosive making, sources said. They allegedly recced Gujarat marketplaces, Karnataka’s coastal parts, Kannur, and Mumbai on motorcycles in groups of two.
After ISIS activities in Pune were busted by authorities, they ran away to Delhi.
Shahnawaz during his earlier stay in Delhi was in touch with an Aligarh Muslim University group, according to officials.
After this, three groups began operating, from Pune, Aligarh, and Delhi, they added.
The operatives were ready with IED expertise and recces of places, and were waiting for their handler to pick a target, the interrogation details reveal.
Their ideology from ISIS was that “kafirs shouldn’t be spared”, said sources.
The terrorist group Indian Mujahideen was also in touch with them but there is not much clarity on that, officials said.
Their plan was to kill Hindu leaders, Jews, and carry out public place killings, they added. Their alleged motivation was “atrocities against Muslims”.
“Possibly Pakistan-based handlers were also behind this, but this is only an assessment, not finally concluded,” said an official.
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