New Delhi, Aug 10 (Agency) Delhi Police Special Cell said on Friday that it has arrested Rizwan Ali, a wanted suspected operative of banned terrorist outfit ISIS, who had on his head a reward of ₹3 lakh declared by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).The accused was absconding for over a year before being apprehended, the police said. A Special Cell team in the New Delhi Range received information about Rizwan Ali’s movements in Daryaganj yesterday. “Based on the input, a trap was laid , and accused Rizwan Ali, aged 29 , was arrested after a brief exchange of fire,” the police said. A pistol and live cartridges were recovered from him, apart from the used ammunition which was seized from the spot, it added. In 2015-16, Rizwan got inclined towards radical ideology through social media. In 2017, he met accused Shahnawaz, a native of Jharkhand, who had come to Delhi for studies, in Shaheen Bagh, Delhi and gradually, they became good friends. Shahnawaz and Rizwan wanted to go for Hijrat and to collect funds for Hijrat, Shahnawaz got involved in crime.
In 2018, Rizwan got connected with an ISIS handler over a social media application. Since then, he and his associates were deeply involved in ISIS ideology and were making plans and preparations for committing terrorist acts. In April 2022, Rizwan and Shahnawaz came in touch with Imran and Yunus Saaki who were arrested by Pune Police last year. Together, they started collecting materials for preparation of IEDs. The Pune police case was later transferred to NIA for further investigation; subsequently, a reward of Rs 3 lakhs was declared by NIA for the arrest of the absconding Shahnawaz Alam, Rizwan Ali and some others. After the arrest of Imran and Yunus, Rizwan and Shahnawaz absconded. While Shahnawaz was subsequently arrested, Rizwan remained out of the reach of law as he kept changing his locations and kept taking all precautions in his communications with ISIS handlers, till being arrested by Special Cell.