New Delhi: Rizwan Abdul Haji Ali, a second-year dropout from Jamia Millia Islamia, was arrested by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell early morning Friday, on charges of being the “key associate” of a terror suspect.
For a year, Rizwan, the eldermost son of a former section officer at Jamia, was eluding counterterrorism units of Maharashtra and Delhi Police, and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at different times.
Rizwan, alleged to be a key suspect involved in a two-year-old Pune ISIS module, was arrested from Tughlakabad area, ThePrint has learnt.
His arrest came nearly 10 months after Mohammed Shahnawaz Shafiuzzama Alam, a key member of the Pune terror module, was nabbed by a Special Cell team from Jaitpur.
In September last year, the NIA had announced a reward of Rs 3 lakh for anyone who provided information on Rizwan, along with Alam, Mohammad Arshad Warsi, Mohammad Rizwan Ashraf, Abdulla Faiyaz Shaikh alias ‘Diaperwala’, and Talha Liyakat Khan.
The next month, Alam was arrested from Jaitpur in New Delhi, Warsi from Lucknow, and Ashraf from Moradabad.
On Friday evening, the Delhi Police said that Rizwan met Alam when the latter had come to Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh in 2017 for his studies.
The Special Cell also said that Rizwan got connected to an ISIS handler in 2018 and went on to become “deeply involved” with the ideology of the terrorist organisation.
Sources in the Delhi Police told ThePrint that Rizwan’s name came up in the investigation conducted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the investigating team that nabbed Alam and two of his aides in October was in “hot pursuit” of Rizwan. The hunt ended Thursday evening when they got a lead about his whereabouts.
‘Chance discovery’
A probe initiated by the Pune Police as a bike theft case was taken over by the Delhi Police, following which Rizwan’s name came into the picture.
In July last year, the Pune Police arrested the trio of Alam, Mohammad Imran-Mohammad Yusuf Khan alias ‘Matka’ alias ‘Aamir Abdul Hameed Khan’, and Mohammad Yunus-Mohammad Yakub Saki alias ‘Adil’ alias ‘Adil Saleem Khan’ on charges of attempting to steal a bike in the city’s Kothrud area.
However, Shahnawaz escaped from police custody when the trio was being taken to their residence in Pune’s Kondhwa area.
During interrogation, the Pune Police found that Matka and Adil were wanted by the NIA for alleged offences such as spreading terror in Rajasthan. Also, after incriminating materials were recovered from their Kondhwa residence, the case was transferred to the ATS.
The ATS filed its own case, and it was during one of the searches at the Kondhwa house that Rizwan’s name surfaced.
Sources in the Maharashtra ATS told ThePrint that documents related to Rizwan were recovered from the residence of the accused in their custody. This was what established his close connection with all the members and his role in the conspiracy.
“He was not there at the time of registration of this case, but the documents established that he was closely connected with the members of the module and was helping Shahnawaz, a mining engineer, in making bombs,” a Maharashtra ATS official told ThePrint.
The ATS went on to arrest two more accused, Aakif Ateeque Nachan and Zulfikar Ali Barodawala. The latter is a Mumbai engineer, who was based in Pune for four-five years before being arrested from Thane.
In July last year, the case was handed over to the NIA, which filed a chargesheet against the seven accused, alleging them of being involved in the fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to carry out terrorism acts.
The NIA had said that members of the module conducted recce across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Telangana to finalise areas for placement and explosion of IEDs.
‘Left home on uncle’s taunt’
Shaheen, the 55-year-mother of Rizwan, told ThePrint that her son, who studied science till standard 12, never had any interest in studies, and when he gave supplementary exams in standard 12, he told the family that his studies were over and he wanted to pursue some business.
However, as his initial attempts to pursue business failed, she said, her son left home around two years back and shifted to Pune with his wife because his uncle kept taunting him for not earning and helping the family.
“We have five children, Rizwan is our eldest child and hence, the responsibility of bringing money home was also the most on his shoulders. Since his uncle used to taunt him often, he decided to leave Delhi for Pune,” Shaheen said.
She added that Rizwan did not contact the family since being chased by the police but her younger son, a school teacher, was taken to Mumbai to help identify possible places where Rizwan could be hiding.
The mother said that her only daughter is sick, adding that she herself has undergone depression after receiving news of Rizwan being on police radar in a terrorism case.
Explaining the economic condition of the family, Shaheen said that Rizwan’s father Abdul Hadi suffered from paralysis and a road accident in the recent past.
She added that both her sons, including Rizwan, were picked up for interrogation in terrorism cases around four-five years back, but were let off with a stern warning. She said that the police told the family, “Inko sudhaar lo (pls control them).”
“We are struggling with illness in our family and this case, details of which are not directly known to us, is further damaging us beyond repair. I can’t believe my son could be involved in any such crime,” Shaheen concluded, controlling her tears.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) conceived and created Pakistan from undivided British India. The Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), initially founded with nationalistic fervour, seems to have joined the party.
These universities provide the educated and skilled manpower which keeps Islamic jihad active in India.