Pune, 15 November 2025: A court on Friday sent 32-year-old Zuber Hangargikar, a software engineer from Kondhwa, to judicial custody on suspicion of being in contact with the terror outfit Al-Qaeda. He had earlier been remanded to police custody until November 4 and later extended until November 14.
Hangargikar was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on October 26 near Pune Railway Station. According to investigators, he allegedly possessed objectionable material, including certain books, and preliminary findings indicated possible communication with individuals linked to Al-Qaeda.
This arrest follows a larger ATS operation conducted on October 9 in Kondhwa, Wanwadi and Khadki, where 18 people were detained and 19 laptops, mobile phones and other material were seized. Data recovered from one of the seized devices reportedly led the ATS to Hangargikar. Later, on November 11, two more suspects from Kondhwa and Mumbra were taken in for questioning.
ATS officials said the ongoing search operations are connected to investigations into the Delhi blast and activities traced in Jammu & Kashmir and Faridabad. They are examining whether any of these cases have links to individuals or networks operating in Pune and Mumbai.
