The National Investigative Agency (NIA) has arrested Pune based Zubair from his home in Kondhwa, Pune on charges of promoting terrorist activities at the behest of ISIS in what the central anti-terror agency has called an intelligence-led operation. Zubair and three other people from Mumbai and Thane were arrested for furthering terrorist activities and raising and operating a sleeper cell in Maharashtra among other charges.

“Some officers came to the house around 3.30-4 am on Monday. Zubair, his wife and three children were here and I had no clue what was happening. The officers started looking into cupboards, desks, everywhere. I had heard of such raids of Income Tax or ED, so I thought it would be those agencies. But I wondered what my son had to do with them. We later found out that they were NIA officers and had a warrant to search our place,” Noor Mohammed, father of Zubair told The Indian Express at his home. He also said that 2-3 hours after the search, the NIA took Zubair and it was only later that he got to know that they had taken Zubair to Mumbai and arrested him.

According to NIA, the were conducted on basis of credible intelligence inputs that the 4 arrested accused and their associates had recruited youth and trained them in fabrication of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and other weapons. “The accused had also shared relevant material, including Do it Yourself (DIY) kits amongst themselves for fabrication of IEDs and manufacture of small weapons, pistols, etc,” the agency said in a statement, which listed an alias of Zubair as “Abu Nusaiba”.

NIA has also claimed that they have found incriminating materials such as electronic gadgets and documents related to ISIS during the search at the houses of the accused. “The material seized clearly exposed the strong and active linkages of the accused with ISIS and their efforts to motivate vulnerable youth to further the terror organisation’s anti-India agenda,” it said.  

In the recent past, multiple people have been arrested by the NIA or police for having links or doing activities which were related to ISIS.