ISIS member Shehnawaz, who was apprehended by the Delhi Police, told investigators that his team planned to launch a “terror attack similar to 26/11” at Nuh, Mewat, Delhi, Lucknow, and Rudraprayag, but they were stopped before they could carry out their evil mission.
Shehnawaz admitted to investigators that he had receded 15 locations of Hindu-affiliated organisations, including the RSS, in Ahmedabad, Surat, and Baroda. He also stated that he intended to attack Right-wing organisations and leaders.
The ISIS member is a Delhi native who earned his engineering degree from NIT Nagpur. His father works as a teacher in Hazaribagh, and he frequently visited the Capital.
Shehnawaz attended Dars on a regular basis and gradually became radicalised. Rizwan and he first met at this time.
He began constructing IEDs in 2019–20 and made contact with a foreign handler. The handler gave online classes to teach Rizwan and Shehnawaz how to make IEDs.
Shehnawaz was the common link between the Delhi and Pune module of ISIS, as per sources.
“Shehnawaz is a hardened terrorist. Over the past few months, he had conducted recces across north India. His task was finding locations to set up training camps in India. The recruitment was supposed to be done by his handlers,” said sources.
According to sources, he had also made several recces trips to the places that would be attacked during festival holdiays. He had received training in creating IEDs and was an expert at it. Liquid (chemicals) and incriminating documents used to make IEDs were recovered from his home.
According to sources, the ISIS Pune module wanted to carry out a much larger attack than the 26/11, as revealed during the interrogation, and sought to target locations that would kill more people both numerically and aesthetically.
They receded Chabad House and the Naval Helipad near the Colaba slum area in Mumbai. They intended to attack important temples in Mumbai with heavy foot traffic as well as hydraulic projects crucial to the growth and development of the nation.
