NIA arrests two from Pune in ISKP case

The NIA has arrested two persons, including a woman journalism student from Pune, for allegedly planning terrorist attacks in India and propagating the ideology of ISIS terror group as part of the activities of the outlawed Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), an official said on Monday.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had on Sunday carried out searches in Pune and arrested Nabeel S Khatri (27) and Sadiya Anwar Sheikh (22), both residents of Pune, in connection with the ISKP case, a spokesperson of the premier investigation agency said.

Khatri runs a gym in Pune while Sadiya is a second year student of Mass Communication and Journalism at Baramati, he said.

The case was initially registered by the Delhi Police Special Cell on March 8 after the arrest of a Kashmiri couple -- Jahanzaib Sami Wani and his wife Hina Bashir Beigh -- from Delhi's Jamia Nagar, the official said.

The couple was having affiliations with ISKP, which is a banned terrorist organisation and a part of the ISIS, and was found to be involved in subversive and anti-national activities, he said, adding they were also found to be in touch with Abdullah Basith, who is lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail in another NIA case.

Sadiya was in constant touch with Jahanzaib, Hina and Basith on various secure messaging applications and deliberating on how to propagate the ideology of ISIS and further its activities in India, the NIA official said.

They were trying to build up a cadre of ISIS in India by recruiting gullible youth for terrorist activities, he said.

It has also come to light that along with Jahanzaib and Basith, Nabeel was actively involved in the planning to carry out violent terrorist attacks in India by arranging logistical support such as procurement of weapons, fake SIM cards, assembling of improvised explosive devices among others to further the activities of ISIS in India, the NIA official said.

He was continuously in contact with Jahanzaib on various secure messaging platforms, he said.

Sadiya had been in contact with ISIS recruiters through social media since 2015 and was planning to execute a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, the official said, adding that she was detained by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in 2018.

The two accused will be produced before a special NIA court in New Delhi, he added.

Further investigation was underway.