Ph.D. student at Jamia, Mohammad Arshad Warsi was also allegedly linked with anti-Hindu riots in Delhi
Delhi Police’s Special Cell on Monday last arrested a terrorist in the guise of a Ph.D. student at Jamia, Mohammad Arshad Warsi, who was allegedly involved in the ISIS Pune module and had links with the conspirators of the anti-Hindu Delhi riots of 2020.
According to police officials Warsi was allegedly planning to unleash terror acts in different parts of the country. Warsi’s name had also featured in the Delhi anti-Hindu riots charge sheets in which the police alleged that he was constantly in touch with accused Sharjeel Imam.
Incidentally, in the Pune ISIS module case, the Special Cell has also arrested two more individuals, namely Shahnawaz, who also goes by the name Shafi Uzzama, and Mohammed Rizwan Ashraf.
These arrests by the Special Cell followed the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) announcing rewards last month of Rs 3 lakh for any information leading to the detention/arrest of the primary suspect, Shahnawaz.
Shahnawaz is an engineer by profession and was wanted in the ISIS Pune module case. According to reports, he is originally from Delhi, but had moved to Pune. Two of his associates were arrested in a raid in July, while he managed to flee, returned to Delhi and went underground.
It was Warsi, who facilitated Shahnavaz to go underground. Warsi was also involved in plotting terrorist attacks, said police officials while informing that following the interrogation of Warsi, the Special Cell managed to locate and arrest Shahnavaz.
Hailing from Jharkhand, Warsi holds a BTech degree from Aligarh Muslim University and is presently enrolled in a PhD program at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), where he specialises in ‘Islamic Principles in Management’.
After their arrest, officials in the police department revealed that Warsi, Shahnawaz, and Ashraf were into self-radicalisation by consuming online stuff on religious indoctrination and had planned “attacks” within India.
The police also claimed that with their arrest they have also recovered from their possession bomb-making manuals, along with pistols, cartridges, basic plastic materials, and pipes.
Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) HS Dhaliwal told reporters: “They had conducted reconnaissance in western and southern India to conduct controlled trial explosions. They are very educated and Shahnawaz was sent PDF documents by their Pakistan-based handlers on bomb-making and how to increase the potency of the bombs.”
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