- By Shubham Bajpai
- Sat, 17 May 2025 01:59 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two absconding members of a sleeper module of the banned ISIS terror outfit from the Mumbai Airport. They were wanted in a 2023 case related to the fabrication and testing of IEDs in Maharashtra's Pune.
The operatives have been identified as Abdullah Fayaz Shaikh alias Diaperwala and Talha Khan. They were arrested by the Immigration Bureau at Terminal 2 of the Mumbai International Airport when they were trying to return to India from Jakarta, Indonesia, the investigating agency said on Saturday.
For the last two years, both the accused had been absconding. The NIA first took them into custody and then arrested them.
The NIA special court had issued a non-bailable warrant against both of them. The NIA had also announced a reward of Rs 3 lakh each for those giving information about both the accused.
"The two accused had been on the run for the past over two years and also had non-bailable warrants issued against them by the NIA Special Court in Mumbai. NIA had also declared a cash reward of Rs. 3 lakh each for information on the two accused," the NIA said in a statement on Saturday.
Both are accused of criminal conspiracy. The arrests mark a total of 10 in the case, as eight other members of the Pune sleeper module have already been arrested.
The NIA said that these two persons, who have already been charge-sheeted along with other arrested accused, were involved in assembling IEDs from a house rented by Abdullah Fayaz Shaikh in Kondhwa, Pune.
Besides Abdullah Fayaz Sheikh and Talha Khan, others arrested in the case have been identified as Mohammad Imran Khan, Mohammad Yunus Saqi, Abdul Qadir Pathan, Simab Nasiruddin Qazi, Zulfiqar Ali Barodawala, Shamil Nachan, Aqif Nachan and Shahnawaz Alam.