ISIS Module Case: NIA Arrests 5th Accused In Maharashtra

In a significant breakthrough in the ISIS Maharashtra module case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) made another arrest on Thursday for promoting the violent activities of the proscribed terrorist outfit.

The arrested individual is identified as Adnanali Sarkar, aged 43, apprehended during raids conducted in the Kondhwa area of Maharashtra’s Pune.

During the searches at Sarkar’s residence, the NIA seized several incriminating materials, including electronic gadgets and documents related to ISIS.

According to the NIA, the material uncovered clearly indicates the accused’s allegiance to the ISIS and his active role in promoting the outfit’s violent agenda by motivating and recruiting vulnerable youth.

The anti-terror agency has asserted that the accused was part of a conspiracy to further ISIS terrorist activities, operating under different names such as Islamic State (IS), Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Daish, Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), ISIS Wilayat Khorasan, and Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham Khorasan (ISIS-K).

Furthermore, NIA stated, “Sarkar was trying to disturb the unity, integrity, security, and sovereignty of the country, and wage a war against the Government of India as part of the ISIS conspiracy through the organization’s ‘Maharashtra ISIS module.”

The current arrest marks the fifth in the case, which the NIA registered on June 28, 2023. Prior to this, on July 3 of the same year, the NIA arrested four other individuals in Mumbai, Thane, and Pune following extensive searches.

The previously arrested suspects were identified as Tabish Nasser Siddiqui from Mumbai, Zubair Noor Mohammed Shaikh alias Abu Nusaiba from Pune, and Sharjeel Shaikh and Zulfikar Ali Barodawala from Thane.

The agency added, “The agency will continue to probe the Maharashtra ISIS module case to unravel all the full contours of the ISIS conspiracy.”