Intelligence sources claim that the ideology of Rizwan Ali and Shahnawaz Alam comes from the Islamic State, which believes that Kafirs (non-believers) should not be spared. (PTI image used for representation)
Top intelligence sources tell CNN-News18 that both Alam and Ali are part of a major global conspiracy hatched by the Islamic State
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Delhi Police arrested a man named Rizwan Ali, an IED expert and a close associate of Shehnawaz Alam, the mastermind of the Pune-based ISIS module, on the eve of Independence Day. A major arrest by the security services before.
Top intelligence sources told CNN-News18 that both Alam and Ali were part of a major global conspiracy hatched by the Islamic State.
“Ali was trained under Alam, a die-hard member of the Islamic State who is an expert in recruiting and manufacturing explosives and improvised explosive devices. He is also an expert in raising funds through the terror group's Borivali-Padgha module.
Details of Ali's interrogation revealed that he wanted to hatch a conspiracy “to carry out terrorist bombings across the country to disturb peace and communal harmony and to wage war against the Government of India”.
Sources said Ali explained during interrogation how the two escaped from Kondwa prison in July 2023.
Both Ali and Alam were linked to a foreign ISIS handler and moved to Delhi in 2022 on the order of that handler to search for caches of weapons and ammunition in the Western Ghats. They also want to train the team on a large scale. In Pune, administrators introduced them to other pro-IS figures such as Imran Khan and Yunus Saki.
At his behest, they conducted several experiments on making IEDs at their hideout in Pune. They also conducted test explosions in Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal.
The pair surveyed several congested areas and VIP routes to determine the best locations to plant IEDs and conduct target clearances. They also visited Mumbai and Gujarat to look for similar locations to carry out attacks.
About Shenawaz Alam
Alam hails from Delhi and did his engineering work from NIT Nagpur. He frequented the capital and eventually became radicalized and met Ali.
In 2019-2020, Alam began learning to make IEDs and contacted a foreign handler. Later, Alam and Ali started learning IED crafting with the help of their administrators and online courses. Sources said they conducted three trial runs in a controlled environment at Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand, Nuh in Haryana and Delhi. However, two of the attempts were unsuccessful.
The administrator later asked them to move to Pune, where two more were stationed and the four became regulars learning how to make IEDs and explosives. They also conducted team visits to markets in Gujarat, coastal Karnataka, Kannur and Mumbai.
However, when the group was captured, they fled to Delhi and Alam had been in touch with the Aligarh Muslim University group during his earlier stay there. The terror group now has three types of cells – Pune, Aligarh and Delhi.
These individuals had expertise in constructing IEDs and had conducted reconnaissance of possible targets, and they were waiting for operators to inform them of their targets.
Sources said the men's ideology came from the Islamic State, which believed that Kafirs (non-believers) should not be spared. “The idea was to kill Hindu leaders, Jews, and carry out killings in public places. Their motive was atrocities against Muslims. Pakistani handlers may be behind these people, but there is no concrete evidence yet,” they said.
