NIA raids in Punjab, UP; man detained from Ludhiana for ISIS ‘links’

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Photo for representation only.

New Delhi/Chandigarh, January 17: The National Investigation Agency on Thursday carried out raids in UP and Punjab related to an ISIS-inspired module case.

The searches were carried out at seven places in western UP and Punjab in connection with the investigation of the recently registered case of ISIS-inspired module.

The NIA team detained a man in Ludhiana. Mohammad Ovesh Pasha is a ‘maulvi’ at a mosque at Meharbaan village on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road.

The raid on the mosque was conducted in the wee hours of Thursday by a team of NIA along with Punjab Police. The man is suspected to be part of the ISIS module, busted in UP.  He had come to Ludhiana seven months ago, and was earlier studied in a ‘madrasa’ in UP, where he got in touch with ISIS operatives.

Ludhiana Police said he was booked under Sections 17/18/20/39 of UAP Act, Sections 120-A, 121-B and 122 of the IPC and Sections 4/5 of the Explosives Act.

No weapon was recovered; though some literature was seized from him.