Arrested ISIS operative was storing gunpowder, other material from past 2 years, says his wife

Arrested ISIS operative Abu Yusuf was bringing gunpowder and other material in small quantity and storing them at home, for the past two years, informed his wife Ayesha on Sunday.

Talking to , Ayesha said that she had known about his activities, but kept quiet because Yusuf strictly asked her not to reveal the information to anyone.

"He was storing gunpowder and other material at home here in a box. When I told him he should not do such things, he told me that I should not stop him, and he would do wherever he feels like. He asked me strictly to not tell anybody, even family," she said.

The wife of the ISIS operative added that she wishes her husband could be forgiven. "I have four kids. Where will I go," she added.

Other family members of Yusuf, including his father, mother and younger brother deny having any knowledge of his involvement with the terrorist outfit.

"We came to know about his involvement with ISIS through police yesterday when they came to search our house. A black flag with white Arabic inscriptions was recovered from his belongings, among other things," said Yusuf's younger brother Aakib.

As per Aakib and his parents, from past few years, Yusuf and his wife were living separately. "The family had limited communication with them," he said.

The whole family maintains that they never suspected Yusuf's involvement in terrorist activities as nobody ever came to meet him at home.

Kafeel Ahmed, Yusuf's father said that the last time he and his family saw Yusuf was on Friday when he left home saying that he's is going to visit his sick cousin in Lucknow.

"When he reached Lucknow, he called his sister there that he'll visit her before going to the hospital to visit his cousin. But he never reached her place. We tried contacting him repeatedly but his phone was switched off. I even went to the police station to file a missing person's complaint, but came to know afterwards that he had been arrested in Delhi," said Kafeel Ahmed.

Ahmed added that he regrets his son's involvement in such activities.

"I wish he could be forgiven for once if possible. But his act is wrong. Had I known about his activities I would have asked him to leave us," said Ahmed.

His mother too wished her son could be forgiven.

"He used to watch things on the phone. Otherwise, nobody came to meet him at home," said Kahkasha, his mother.

Earlier today, a huge amount of explosives, including explosive jacket, were recovered from Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh, sources said.

The jacket was allegedly prepared for a fidayeen attack, they added.

This comes a day after the Delhi Police's Special Cell arrested an ISIS operative carrying two pressure cooker-based IEDs after a brief exchange of fire and averted a major terror strike in the national capital, the police said. Uttar Pradesh sounded a high alert on Saturday following the arrest of the ISIS operative.

According to the police, the accused has been identified as Mohd Mustakim Khan (36) aka Abu Yusuf Khan aka Yusuf Khan, a resident of village Badhiyaa Bhaisaahi, Utraula in Uttar Pradesh.

( With inputs from ANI )