The Delhi Police Special Cell has averted a possible terrorist attack in the national Capital ahead of the Independence Day on August 15 by arresting a most wanted terrorist — a member of the Pune module of the ISIS, carrying a reward of `3 lakh.
The accused has been identified as Rizwan Abdul Haji Ali who was on the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) most wanted list and the probe agency had announced a reward for information leading to his arrest following his escape from the custody of the Pune Police since July 2023.
According to a senior police officer, Rizwan was planning an attack ahead of I-Day as he and his associates were doing recce of many VIP areas of Delhi.
It is suspected that he was preparing for a possible attack on some Delhi-NCR-based VIPs, an officer said, adding that he was being interrogated. The Delhi Police Special Cell police station has filed an FIR in this regard.
Ali, who is a resident of Delhi’s Daryaganj, was arrested by a team of Special Cell from near Ganga Baksh Marg near Biodiversity Park following a tip-off received from the Delhi-Faridabad border at around 11 pm. An unlicensed star pistol of .30 bore and three live cartridges were recovered from his possession. Two mobile phones were also recovered from him, and authorities are analysing the data on these recovered devices to uncover further details about his activities and potential associates.
In October 2023, the Special Cell had arrested seven terrorist of the ISIS Pune module including Shahnawaz and Mohammad Arshad Warsi. Rizwan, who was one of those arrested, managed to escape along with two others. The NIA placed a reward on his arrest along with others and had been searching for him since long.
Rizwan’s involvement with the terrorist organisation ISIS had already led to his being booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Explosive Act. Rizwan’s previous two cases include one registered in Mumbai under various sections of Arms act, Maharashtra Police Act and UAPA while the other one is registered in Delhi under sections of Explosive Act. Both are being investigated currently by the NIA.
In light of the wanted terrorist’s arrest, the police has intensified vigilance across Delhi and put up posters of terrorists linked with ISIS and Al Qaeda in various locations.
However, this is not limited to Delhi as similar measures are being taken to prevent any potential attack in Punjab.
In the year 2015-16, Rizwan Ali got inclined towards radical ideology through social media. In 2017, he met with terrorist 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 wanted to go for Hijrat and to collect funds for Hijrat, Shahnawaz got involved in crime.
In 2018, Rizwan got connected with an ISIS handler over a social media application. Since then, he and his associates were deeply involved in ISIS ideology and were making plans and preparations for committing terrorist acts. In April 2022, Rizwan and Shahnawaz came in touch with Imran and Yunus Saaki (arrested by Pune Police). Together, they started collecting materials for preparation of IEDs. After the arrest of Imran and Yunus, Rizwan and Shahnawaz absconded. While Shahnawaz was subsequently arrested, Rizwan remained out of the reach of law as he kept changing his locations and kept taking all precautions in his communications with ISIS handlers, till being arrested by Special Cell.
