Maha ISIS Module case: NIA arrests Pune Anaesthesiologist

Mumbai: In a major breakthrough in the Maharashtra ISIS module case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested a 43-year-old doctor for promoting the violent activities of the proscribed terrorist outfit.

This is the fifth arrest made by NIA in the Maharashtra ISIS module case.

The accused was taken into custody by the central agency following raids at his residence in the Kondhwa area of Pune, said the statement.

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According to NIA, the accused had hatched a conspiracy to further ISIS terrorist activities, known by 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/Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham Khorasan (ISIS-K).

The statement said NIA seized several incriminating materials, including electronic gadgets and documents related to ISIS, during searches at his residence. These materials and gadgets include ‘Do it Yourself’ (DIY) kits for the fabrication of Improvised Explosive Devices and the manufacturing of small weapons, pistols, etc.

Further, on the directions of their foreign-based ISIS handlers, the accused had also allegedly created inflammatory media content, which was published in the magazine ‘Voice of Hind’, in furtherance of the banned outfit’s agenda of terror and violence, the agency had said.

He 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 its 'Maharashtra ISIS module', said NIA.

As per a media report in HT, the accused has an experience of 16 years in treating difficult airway and regional anaesthesia. He completed his MBBS in 2001 from BJ Government Medical College in Pune and MD Anaesthesia from the same college in 2006. He is known to speak English, Marathi, Hindi and German languages. There are 18 publications which he has co-authored with field experts, sources said.

The agency on July 3 arrested four persons after conducting searches at several places in Mumbai, Thane and Pune in connection with the Maharashtra ISIS module case.

The four 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.

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