NEW DELHI: After eight months of surveillance-based raids and a cat-and-mouse chase through six cities, Delhi Police’s Special Cell arrested “most wanted” terror operative Rizwan Ali from the Delhi-Faridabad border in the early hours of Friday.
Rizwan was a member of an “ISIS-inspired” module which was busted in parts in Pune and Delhi last year. This module had been preparing IEDs and also doing recce of vital installations in different cities for carrying out terror strikes around Independence Day.
Special commissioner RP Upadhyay confirmed Rizwan’s arrest and said the suspect had been absconding for over a year.National Investigation Agency had declared a reward of Rs 3 lakh for the capture of the “highly radicalised” terror operative. The operation is ongoing to dismantle the module and arrest absconding members.
Last Sept, TOI had reported how three Delhi youths had figured on the “most wanted” list of agencies and that sleuths had closed in on one of them. Three days later, one of the three named Shahnawaz, an engineer by education, was arrested. The second was Rizwan, arrested now, and the third — Abdullah alias Diaperwala — is still at large.
Rizwan had been changing his locations every few weeks and took all precautions in his communications with his handlers. Sleuths had narrowly missed him in Sambhal, UP a few months ago. Rizwan was also hiding in Hyderabad and Kerala. He was eventually tracked down by a team led by additional CP (Special Cell) Pramod Kushwaha and ACPs Lalit Mohan Negi and Hriday Bhushan.
“In 2023, while working on the ISIS network, certain leads were developed which indicated the presence of a module having footprints in UP, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand & Maharashtra. While this module was being mapped, in the month of July 2023, two ISIS operatives namely Imran Khan and Yunus Saki were arrested in Pune, Maha rashtra,” said Kushwaha.
The cops learnt that one of the members of this module, Shahnawaz Alam alias Abdullah, had given a slip to police and had managed to escape. The Pune police case was later transferred to NIA for further investigation and subsequently, a reward was declared by NIA on the arrest of absconding terrorists Shahnawaz, Rizwan and others. Shahnawaz was arrested on Oct 2 from south Delhi while Rizwan managed to be at large.
“On Aug 8, we received information about movements of Rizwan. Based on the input, a trap was laid by a team and he was arrested after a brief exchange of fire. From his possession, one pistol and live cartridges were recovered, apart from the used ammunition which was seized from the spot. In this regard, a case under relevant sections of BNS and Arms Act has been registered at Special Cell,” ACP Negi said. The team comprised inspectors Vinay Pal, Manoj and SI Pankaj.
According to Kushwaha, Rizwan was inclined towards radical ideology through social media in 2015-16. “In 2017, he met with accused Shahnawaz, a native of Jharkhand, who had come to Delhi for studies in Shaheen Bagh, Delhi and gradually they became good friends. Shahnawaz and Rizwan wan ted to go for Hijrat and to collect funds for this, they got involved in crime,” Kushwaha added.
In 2018, Rizwan got connected with an ISIS handler over a social media application. Since then, he and his accomplices were deeply involved in ISIS ideology and were making plans and preparations for committing terrorist acts. They briefly came on the Special Cell’s radar then too but were let off for lack of evidence.
Rizwan was a member of an “ISIS-inspired” module which was busted in parts in Pune and Delhi last year. This module had been preparing IEDs and also doing recce of vital installations in different cities for carrying out terror strikes around Independence Day.
Special commissioner RP Upadhyay confirmed Rizwan’s arrest and said the suspect had been absconding for over a year.National Investigation Agency had declared a reward of Rs 3 lakh for the capture of the “highly radicalised” terror operative. The operation is ongoing to dismantle the module and arrest absconding members.
Last Sept, TOI had reported how three Delhi youths had figured on the “most wanted” list of agencies and that sleuths had closed in on one of them. Three days later, one of the three named Shahnawaz, an engineer by education, was arrested. The second was Rizwan, arrested now, and the third — Abdullah alias Diaperwala — is still at large.
Rizwan had been changing his locations every few weeks and took all precautions in his communications with his handlers. Sleuths had narrowly missed him in Sambhal, UP a few months ago. Rizwan was also hiding in Hyderabad and Kerala. He was eventually tracked down by a team led by additional CP (Special Cell) Pramod Kushwaha and ACPs Lalit Mohan Negi and Hriday Bhushan.
“In 2023, while working on the ISIS network, certain leads were developed which indicated the presence of a module having footprints in UP, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand & Maharashtra. While this module was being mapped, in the month of July 2023, two ISIS operatives namely Imran Khan and Yunus Saki were arrested in Pune, Maha rashtra,” said Kushwaha.
The cops learnt that one of the members of this module, Shahnawaz Alam alias Abdullah, had given a slip to police and had managed to escape. The Pune police case was later transferred to NIA for further investigation and subsequently, a reward was declared by NIA on the arrest of absconding terrorists Shahnawaz, Rizwan and others. Shahnawaz was arrested on Oct 2 from south Delhi while Rizwan managed to be at large.
“On Aug 8, we received information about movements of Rizwan. Based on the input, a trap was laid by a team and he was arrested after a brief exchange of fire. From his possession, one pistol and live cartridges were recovered, apart from the used ammunition which was seized from the spot. In this regard, a case under relevant sections of BNS and Arms Act has been registered at Special Cell,” ACP Negi said. The team comprised inspectors Vinay Pal, Manoj and SI Pankaj.
According to Kushwaha, Rizwan was inclined towards radical ideology through social media in 2015-16. “In 2017, he met with accused Shahnawaz, a native of Jharkhand, who had come to Delhi for studies in Shaheen Bagh, Delhi and gradually they became good friends. Shahnawaz and Rizwan wan ted to go for Hijrat and to collect funds for this, they got involved in crime,” Kushwaha added.
In 2018, Rizwan got connected with an ISIS handler over a social media application. Since then, he and his accomplices were deeply involved in ISIS ideology and were making plans and preparations for committing terrorist acts. They briefly came on the Special Cell’s radar then too but were let off for lack of evidence.