Pune ISIS Module Case: NIA Chargesheet Lays Bare Workings Of Core Group

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the investigation into the Pune ISIS module case, has claimed that Padgha village resident Zulfikar Ali Barodawala and Pune resident Zubair Shaikh had started radicalising youth in 2015 and had created a group on WhatsApp where they posted messages in support of ISIS.

NIA chargesheet content

The NIA’s chargesheet contains the statement of a witness who claimed that he came in touch with Shaikh, who has been arrested in another case by the agency, in 2011-12. The witness claimed that in 2014, Shaikh had added him to a WhatsApp group called ‘Unity in Muslim Ummah’ and ‘Ummah News’.

The witness claimed that Shaikh would post articles related to Palestine, Syria, and ISIS ideology. He claimed that apart from Zubair, one Talha Khan, Abdullah Shaikh (wanted accused who is said to be in Oman), Barodawala, Abdul Kadeer, Simab Kazi were the members in that WhatsApp group who supported ISIS and propagated the ideology of the terror group. The witness claimed that he had left the group but was added again in 2017.

The witness claimed that he was close to Barodawala and said the latter moved out of Pune to Padgha village, in Bhiwandi taluka, in 2022. When the witness asked him for a reason, Barodawala told him that Padgha was a free zone where Sharia was followed, mosques were open even during the pandemic and the village was like Al-Shaam (Greater Syria region).

Another witness, whose identity has been concealed, has said that he met Shaikh in 2015. He said Shaikh used to conduct street programmes and share audio lectures of Anwar Awlaki, a banned Islamic scholar. A few days after their meeting, Shaikh added the second witness to the WhatsApp group.

The agency has added the statement of another protected witness who was added to the group by Shaikh. This witness claimed that he met Shaikh in 2015-16. He claimed that after the pandemic lockdown, they used to go for forest hikes and picnics. Later, he claimed that gradually members started talking about promoting ISIS ideologies. Hence he distanced himself from them.

The agency has claimed that Barodawala was radicalised much earlier and was looking at recruiting more people with Shaikh, who is not added as an accused in the present case yet.

The agency claimed that he had several meetings with Shamil Nachan and Akif Nachan, who were connected to the two accused who were part of the Ratlam Module, namely Imran Khan and Yunus Saki.

Accused imparted firearms training

The agency has claimed that the accused had imparted training in bomb-making and weapons handling, reports of which were passed to foreign handlers by Imran, Saki and recently arrested accused Shahnawaz Aalam.

The accused also carried out recce at several places in Maharashtra and nearby areas and were planning to carry out terrorist acts, the agency said. It added that they also had code names for explosive material. For example, acetone was referred as rose water while hydrogen peroxide was referred as sharbat.