Pune IT Professional Arrested for Al-Qaeda Links, Possession of Osama Bin Laden Speech

Pune: A Pune-based IT Professional was arrested on suspicion of having connections with the Al-Qaeda terrorist network, the police said. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) identified the accused as Zubair Hungargekar, who reportedly had a translated Urdu copy of the speeches by the notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden, said police sources.

Apart from that, the officials found other suspicious documents relating to the upgradation of explosives. “Authorities have found a translated Urdu copy of a speech by the notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden in Hungargekar’s possession. In addition, digital materials believed to have been sourced from Al-Qaeda’s Inspire magazine, containing details on the handling of AK-47 rifles and the fabrication of improvised explosive devices, were recovered during the search,” said police sources.

After the investigation, officials are looking into the youngsters the Pune techie interacted with. They are examining whether Hungargekar influenced anyone to join extremist groups. With all the sensitive materials and documents found in Hangargekar’s possession, the authorities suspect that he was involved in anti-national activities and was reportedly planning an attack in Maharashtra and other cities.

The sources added that the accused is a well-educated individual, originally belonging to Solapur. He specialised in software testing and database development. He had been working at a software IT company in Kalyani Nagar, earning a good salary, before he was arrested. He came under the radar of the ATS a few days back during several large-scale raids across 25-26 locations in the Kondhwa area as part of a terror funding case.

Sources revealed that after a detailed examination of the materials recovered during the raids, several indications emerged suggesting Hungargekar’s potentially suspicious role in the activities under investigation. The digital evidence, along with the documents seized, is currently undergoing thorough scrutiny by officials to determine whether there are other individuals linked to the same network. Investigators are carefully analysing the contents to trace any connections, communications, or plans that may implicate additional people, aiming to uncover the full extent of the network and its operations.