Mumbai | The Maharashtra ATS has found a note referring to "lone wolf" attacks and the Islamic State at the house of a man arrested for allegedly attacking two security guards after asking their religion in Thane district, officials said on Tuesday.
Prima facie, the incident appears to be a "lone wolf" attack carried out by a radicalised man, who allegedly asked the guards to recite the 'Kalma' before stabbing them early on Monday, an official said.
The accused, identified as Zaib Zubair Ansari (31), who returned to India from the US in 2020, allegedly asked the security guards their religion after an altercation at an under-construction building in the Mira Road area of Thane, he said.
One of the victims claimed the accused asked both of them their religion and to recite the 'Kalma', and when they could not, he stabbed them with a knife, seriously injuring them, as per the official.
Concerning the seriousness of the incident, the Maharashtra government handed over the probe into the incident to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday evening.
Ansari lived alone at the Smita Regency building in Naya Nagar, Mira Road, about 200 metres from the incident site, the official said.
During a search of his residence, the ATS recovered a note referring to "lone wolf" attacks and the Islamic State, a laptop on a table and three copies of Quran, he said.
During the incident, the accused initially asked the security guards for the address of a nearby mosque.
Both security guards denied knowing the mosque's address. The accused then asked the guards whether they were Hindus and moved ahead. Within a few seconds, Ansari returned, pulled the knife from his pocket and allegedly attacked security guard Subrato Sen and his supervisor Rajkumar Mishra, the official said.
While attacking, Ansari asked the supervisor whether he was also a Hindu, and if not, he should recite the 'Kalma'. The accused stabbed them because they were unable to recite the 'Kalma', the official said.
Notably, terrorists who targeted tourists at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in April last year had allegedly asked one of the victims, a Christian, to recite the 'Kalma' before shooting him dead.
After the incident on Monday, Ansari was identified based on the CCTV footage from the scene and apprehended within one and a half hours by the Mira Bhayander-Vasai Virar police.
The accused lived in the US with his parents from 2000 to 2020. However, after his work permit expired, he returned to India and stayed at Kurla in Mumbai and Vashi in neighbouring Navi Mumbai for some time, the official said.
Since 2022, he has been living alone at the Smita Regency building. His wife is Afghan, and during questioning, it came to light that she left him and went to America, the official said.
The Mira Bhayander–Vasai Virar region has a diverse population, including Muslim-dominated areas. In 2024, the city witnessed communal tension during a Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony rally, when more than 60 persons attacked a procession and vandalised vehicles, according to the police.
