The lawyer of suspected Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) recruiter Rizwan Ahmed Ali Nawazuddin has contended in the special court that the youth is a minor, producing a school certificate as evidence. Interestingly, at the time of his arrest, Rizwan’s parents said he was an adult. The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had also seized a voter’s ID from his home in Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh that shows he is an adult.
A senior ATS official said they will have to file a reply in the court by February 11 and hence are searching for more documents that could help them ascertain his real age. They will also conduct a medical test through a government hospital to ascertain Rizwan’s age scientifically. On his arrest, Rizwan, just like Mohammad Hussain Jamil Khan, had admitted before court that he had made a “mistake”.
Meanwhile, while unraveling the terror network allegedly built by Rizwan, the Maharashtra ATS claimed that they have learnt how his foreign handlers and other terror recruits like chief recruiter Mudabir Shaikh from Mumbra swiftly changed their social networking platforms from time to time to ensure they don’t have intelligence agencies trailing their terror-related activities.
Rizwan, said ATS sources, was in touch with “a lot of people” The alleged accused and others arrested in the joint operation used Facebook for some time, then switched to WhatsApp application and then Telegram.
An ATS source said he used at least seven SIM cards to ensure the terror agency doesn’t track his activities. He also changed a few handsets.
Further, while changing and using different social networking platforms they also used applications, some of which were phone number based and others that were mobile handset based, said the ATS source.
The mobile phones have been sent to the forensic lab and a mirror image of them has been provided to the ATS for running their probe.
Rizwan was second-in-command recruiter for ISIS in India after Mudabir Shaikh. He was failing in his exams and was pursuing his HSC.
He is said to have indoctrinated the Malwani youths including one Ayaz Sultan who was last tracked to Kabul and is said to have joined the ISIS.
