NIA Arrests Two Wanted Terror Suspects Linked to Pune ISIS Module from Indonesia
Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Mumbai/Pune, 17th May 2025: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two wanted terror suspects — Abdullah Faiyaz Shaikh and Talha Liyakat Khan — in connection with the Pune ISIS module case. The duo was apprehended in Indonesia and brought to Mumbai, where they are expected to be produced before a court.
The arrests mark a significant breakthrough in an ongoing investigation into an alleged ISIS-backed conspiracy to launch terror attacks across Maharashtra, Gujarat, and other parts of India.
According to the NIA, the accused were involved in activities such as organising IED fabrication workshops, conducting reconnaissance of forests for firing practice and hideouts, and raising terror funds through armed robberies and thefts.
Abdullah Faiyaz Shaikh, also known as Diaparwala, was a resident of Mithanagar, Kondhwa, while Talha Liyakat Khan lived in Wanowrie, Pune.
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, Mumbai. NIA had also declared a cash reward of Rs. 3 lakh each for information on the two accused.
The case RC-05/2023/NIA/MUM relates to a criminal conspiracy by these men, along with eight other ISIS Pune sleeper module members already arrested and in judicial custody. They had conspired to commit terrorist acts with the aim to disturb India’s peace and communal harmony by waging a war against the Government of India in furtherance of the ISIS agenda to establish Islamic rule in the country through violence and terror.
These two men, already chargesheeted along with the other arrested accused, had been engaged in assembling IEDs from a house rented by Abdullah Faiyaz Shaikh in Kondhwa, Pune. During the 2022-2023 period, they had also organised and participated in a bomb making and training workshop, besides carrying out a controlled explosion to test an IED fabricated by them, at these premises.
Besides Abdullah Faiyaz Shaikh and Talha Khan, the others arrested in the case are identified as Mohammed Imran Khan, Mohammed Yunus Saki, Abdul Kadir Pathan, Simab Nasiruddin Kazi, Zulfikar Ali Barodawala, Shamil Nachan, Akif Nachan and Shahnawaz Alam.
Earlier, the NIA had seized multiple properties in Kondhwa associated with the accused. These residential flats and houses were reportedly used for IED-making training and planning terror activities. A total of 11 individuals have already been charge-sheeted in the case (RC 05/2023/NIA/MUM).
The properties are linked to the following accused: Mohammed Imran Khan, Mohammed Yunus Saki, Mohammed Shahnawaz Alam, Md Rizwan Ali, Kadir Dastagir Pathan, Simab Kazi, Zulfikar Ali Barodawala, Abdullah Faiyaz Shaikh, Talha Liyakat Khan, Shamil Nachan, and Aakif Nachan.
