'Lone Wolf, Wanted To Join ISIS': Cops On Mumbai Man Who Stabbed Guards

Washington:

A 31-year-old man, who stabbed two security guards in Mumbai after allegedly asking them their religion, is being probed for what officials suspect to be a "lone wolf" terror attack. According to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), during a raid at the accused Zaib Zuber Ansari's home, the investigation team found handwritten notes in which he expressed his desire to join the terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). 

In these notes, Ansari described the attack in Mumbai's Mira Road locality as his "first step" towards joining a terrorist organisation, sources in the Maharashtra ATS told news agency ANI. 

Sources claimed words like 'jihad' and 'Gaza' were also found scribbled in notes written by Ansari.

Investigators also found that Ansari was a science graduate and had lived in the United States for several years. Unable to find a job in the US, he returned to India in 2019 and lived alone in Mira Road, providing online chemistry coaching. 

Investigators believed that during his isolation, the accused became radicalised through the internet, sources said. Agencies are now examining the digital footprints of his mobile phone and laptop to determine if he was in direct contact with any handlers across the border.