ISIS terrorist suspect arrested at the Mumbai airport by the Indian authorities

The arrested ISIS suspect has been identified as Abu Zaid, a native of Azamgarh district, in Uttar Pradesh.

A team of Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (UP-ATS) arrested a suspected ISIS terrorist from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai on Saturday night. The suspected terrorist’s interrogation is expected to reveal more details about his India-based supporters and those who funded the module.

The arrested ISIS suspect has been identified as Abu Zaid, a native of Azamgarh district, in Uttar Pradesh. Zaid was arrested when he was returning from Saudi Arabia. “We nabbed him when he landed at the Mumbai International Airport. He is being brought to Lucknow on a transit remand,” said Anand Kumar, ADG (Law and Order).

According to the police, in April 2017, four persons —Umar alias Nazim, Gazi Baba alias Muzammil, Mufti alias Faizan and Zakwan alias Ehteshaam — were arrested by the UP-ATS in joint operations with other state police departments. The probe revealed that the group used to interact with the help of a mobile phone application and were planning a terrorist attack. However, their plans were thwarted after the arrests.

“During their interrogation, we came across Abu Zaid’s name. Zaid was staying in Saudi Arabia and was instrumental in instigating youths in Western Uttar Pradesh to support and join ISIS. We have evidence to this aspect from the seized mobile phones of the earlier arrested four persons. Following this, a Lookout Notice was issued against Zaid. We would now be interrogating Zaid to ascertain since when he had been instigating youths for radical activities. We will also look into his connections with people in Saudi, who funded the mobile app and what were his plans,” said a police officer.

“His arrival in India was linked to possible terror attacks in different cities. We will seek his remand to interrogate his links in Uttar Pradesh,” said the ADG. Meanwhile, Zaid was produced before a local court in Mumbai and was given a transit remand.

Source: DNA India