NB Explains| ISIS terrorist's SHOCKING plan to target Hindu temples, RSS premises busted

The recently arrested ISIS operative Shehnawaz, during the interrogation, revealed some shocking information to investigators he was planning to carry out the 26/11-like terror attack and Hindu temples in Mumbai, and RSS premises in cities across the country were on target of his terror module.

 

 

 

He also revealed that they also carried out test blasts at five locations across India to launch a “26/11-like terror attack”, however, authorities thwarted their nefarious plan before the rest of his team could carry it out.

 

Shehnawaz said he recced 15 premises of Hindu-affiliated organisations, including RSS, in Ahmedabad, Surat and Baroda, admitting to the investigators that he wanted to attack Right-wing establishments and leaders, top Intel sources told CNN-News18.

 

The ISIS operative hails from Delhi and did his engineering at NIT Nagpur. He was a frequent visitor to the Capital and his father is a teacher in Hazaribagh. Shehnawaz regularly attended Dars and slowly got radicalised. It was during this time that he met Rizwan.

 

 

 

In 2019-20, he started learning how to make IEDs and got in touch with a foreign handler. The handler helped both Rizwan and Shehnawaz learn IED-making with the help of online classes.\Sources said the duo, apart from carrying out trial runs of explosives, began finding out hideouts and targets. The handler then asked Shehnawaz to move to Pune where two people arrested from Chittorgarh were stationed.

 

Both groups stayed in different places in Chittorgarh but met regularly. They were regulars in learning IED and explosive making. However, when the group got busted in Pune, the duo ran away to Delhi. According to sources, Shehnawaz was the common link between the Delhi and Pune modules of ISIS.

 

“Shehnawaz is a hardened terrorist. Over the past few months, he had conducted recces across north India. His task was to find locations to set up training camps in India. The recruitment was supposed to be done by his handlers,” said sources.

 

 

Shahnawaz is an engineer by profession and was wanted in the ISIS Pune module case. According to reports citing sources, Shahnawaz is originally from Delhi but had moved to Pune. Two of his associates were arrested in a raid in July, while Shahnawaz managed to flee, returned to Delhi, and lived in a hideout. Shahnawaz, Abdulla, and Rizwan were radicalised into joining the ISIS mission over the Telegram app and planned to engineer violence and terror in the country.