National Investigation Agency has taken Mohammed Ibrahim Yazdani, the alleged kingpin of the ISIS-linked module, busted in Hyderabad, to Nanded city in neighbouring Maharashtra on Monday.
NIA sources said that Yazdani was taken on the basis of the information that his module has tried to procure weapons from Nanded.
Yazdani and four others were taken under the NIA custody till July 12 and were being questioned about their activities and plans to carry out terrorist attacks in the city. They were being questioned at discreet locations at Shamirpet and Yusufguda in the city outskirts.
In Nanded the NIA, with the help of the local police, was trying to nab the people from whom the Hyderabad group had tried to purchase the weapons. Four persons were detained for questioning in this regard.
According to the NIA, Ibrahim and another associate Habeeb Mohammed had first travelled to Ajmer in Rajasthan to procure weapons from an arms dealer. The meeting was fixed by Ibrahim's Syria based handler. However it could not yield any fruits and Ibrahim could not purchase any weapons there.
Subsequently at the behest of the handler, he went to Nanded to get the weapons. However it was not clear whether any weapons were delivered to him.
NIA, during its raids in the wee hours of June 29, had recovered two 9 mm semi automatic pistols and one air gun. It was not clear whether the group had received these guns in Nanded.
The questioning of the module members so far has revealed that Ibrahim Yazdani was the one in touch with the handler and kept most of the information to himself.
NIA sources said that Ibrahim was designated as the “Amir” or the chief of the Hyderabad module and he was getting the information from the handler abroad. The handler had introduced himself to Ibraheem as hailing from Karnataka and had taken part in fighting in Afghanistan and now he was in Syria. NIA officials believe he was Shafi Armar.