After Delhi Police arrested three suspected Islamic State (IS) terrorists, Karnataka Police have said that they are in constant touch with Delhi police officials regarding the arrests.
The Special Cell of Delhi Police in a major operation busted Pakistan’s ISI-sponsored module, disguised as an ISIS module and arrested Shahnawaz, carrying a bounty of Rs 3 lakh on his head by the National Investigation Agency, from Jaitpur in South Delhi. Apart from him, two persons, Mohammad Rizwan Ashraf and Mohammad Arshad Warsi, also were arrested.
Renuka Sukumar Hubballi- Dharwad Police Commissioner told ANI, “We are in constant touch with Delhi Police. As of now, there is no official word regarding those arrested belonging to or trained in this part of Karnataka. We are constantly monitoring the situation. In a robust manner, we keep an eye on this kind of activity. What is happening, we are aware of these situations.”
Police said that initial interrogation revealed that these people, conducted elaborate recce in Western Ghats, southern India, including Hubbali, Dharwad, and Ahmedabad in Gujarat to establish their hideouts.
While responding to media queries, Dhaliwal said, “Shahnawaz is a mining engineer from Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology. His wife, Basanti Patel, is converted to Islam and is now known as Mariam.”
According to police, the three wanted suspected terrorists were produced before the court and they have been sent to 14 days of police custody.
Last month, the NIA released pictures of four terror suspects, including that of Shahnawaz, wanted in the Pune ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) module case and declared a reward money of Rs 3 lakh each for credible information on them leading to their arrest. The agency has said that the identity of the informant will be kept confidential.
During the investigation, it had come to light that a foreign-based handler had possibly put Shahnawaz in touch with two other terror operatives with instructions to execute a terror strike.