Hyderabad: A series of arrests of terror attack suspects and busting of sleeper modules in the last few months have shaken up the Andhra Pradesh security establishment.
In at least three such incidents over the last four months, four persons, including some with alleged links to the ISIS and Pakistan and previous bomb blast incidents in places like Tamil Nadu, were arrested from the state’s Vizianagaram, Rayachoti and Dharmavaram.
All three are small towns in Andhra Pradesh, the first one in the north coastal region, known as Uttarandhra, and the latter two in Rayalaseema. A fifth person was arrested from Hyderabad.
The arrest of one Siraj ur Rehman from Vizianagaram this May jolted the sleepy town, about 50 km away from Visakhapatnam, where Islamic radicalisation or extremist activities are largely unheard of. The Muslim population itself is under 1 percent in the district, according to the 2011 census.
In a joint operation with the Telangana forces, the police also arrested his alleged accomplice, Syed Sameer, from Hyderabad.
According to the police, Rehman, 29, is an unemployed engineering graduate, while Sameer, 27, a lift technician from Bhoiguda in Telangana’s Secunderabad. They were both identified as ISIS sympathisers, allegedly operating under the banner Al Hind Ittehadul Muslimeen (AHIM) and purportedly received instructions from handlers in Saudi Arabia.
They had planned blasts in Hyderabad and other places, the police claimed, adding that explosive material like ammonia and sulphur had been seized from the house of Rehman in Vizianagaram, which he was said to have procured from online platforms. The two are in remand in Visakhapatnam central jail.
According to Vizianagaram SP Vakul Jindal, Rehman was radicalised online, browsing inflammatory content, and swayed by misreported attacks and injustices on Muslims in India and abroad.
“Rehman, socially reclusive, went to Hyderabad on the pretext of preparing for the state government’s Group-2 exams and got in touch with similar minded people like Sameer. They had even planned a blast rehearsal locally but, having kept tabs on suspicious online activity for some time, we moved swiftly and nabbed Rehman and his accomplice,” the SP told ThePrint.
Then, in a major breakthrough on 1 July, based on warrants produced by Tamil Nadu’s anti-terrorism squad, two sleeper cell operatives, Abubakar Siddique and his accomplice Mohammed Ali alias Mansooor, were arrested from Rayachoti for alleged terrorist links, role in bomb attacks and terror incidents in neighbouring states.
The two had come to Rayachoti about two decades ago, and married local Muslim women. Living under false names and assimilating with the local community, they operated small businesses in clothing, Annamayya district SP Vidya Sagar Naidu told ThePrint. They are believed to be followers of the Salafi sect, considered extreme in matters of religion.
Unlike Vizianagaram, Rayachoti has been witnessing some communal clashes, tensions lately attributed to the town’s large Muslim population.
According to Kurnool range Deputy Inspector General of Police Koya Praveen, Siddique, in the mid-50s, was highly influenced by radical fugitive preacher Zakir Naik. Operating as a lone wolf, Siddique, an expert in IEDs, electronic devices and timer explosive devices, shared his expertise with likeminded radicals.
The police apparently foiled a major terror attack, as daggers, sickles, digital timers, clock switches, speed controllers, ball bearings, nuts and bolts, binoculars, walkie-talkies, mobile phones, hacking software to maps of major Indian cities and coding manuals were seized from the residences of the accused in Rayachoti.
The police further found ISIS-inspired radical-fanatical literature, cheque books, and financial records linked to suspicious transactions. They also disposed of a parcel bomb seized from the house.
“It was after settling in Rayachoti that Siddique carried out the bomb blast at BJP’s Malleshwaram office in Bengaluru in 2013,” Koya told ThePrint. He is also allegedly involved in the 2011 pipe-bomb plant attempt during former deputy prime minister and senior BJP leader L.K. Advani’s rath yatra in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai.
Siddique and Ali are allegedly linked to the banned terror outfit Al-Ummah, have a background of multiple terror-related cases and explosion incidents in Chennai, Vellore, Trichy and Coimbatore since the 1990s.
Given the gravity of their terror activities, the National Investigation Agency took over the case Thursday, Koya told ThePrint.
In the latest arrest this month, Noor Mohammed, a 42-year-old biryani and tea master at an outlet at Dharmavaram, was nabbed by the Sathya Sai district police for suspected terror activities and links with Pakistani outfits.
Dharmavaram, 180 km north of Bengaluru, is also a small town known for its sarees.
SP V. Ratna told the media that Mohammed was actively participating in anti-national discussions on WhatsApp groups with terror links to Pakistan and extremist outfits such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Sadayi-Jihad and Maqbhuj Ki Awaz.
While he was prepared to cross the border for terror training, Mohammed was also found to have been brainwashing youngsters visiting the local mosque. Some Jihadi literature was also seized from him, according to the police.
Mohammed has been booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the police are verifying the funding of his new house built with modern amenities. He is lodged in Kadapa prison.
‘Stay vigilant, act decisively’
In the wake of Operation Sindoor and Rehman’s arrest from Vizianagaram in May, deputy CM Pawan Kalyan shot off a letter to AP Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand and DGP Harish Gupta, urging that all departments concerned and district police officials remain vigilant.
He stated that any signs or movements of terrorist activities or sympathisers, sleeper cells, illegal immigrants and Rohingyas should be immediately reported and investigated without delay.
“Police must act decisively and remain extra vigilant, especially in light of the recent arrest in Vizianagaram of a man with alleged ISIS links,” Kalyan reportedly said in the letter, while observing that a round-the-clock alert and stringent measures would only keep the state safe.
The Jana Sena chief called for special focus on coastal surveillance and protection, given Andhra’s long coastline. The deputy CM wanted special focus on north Andhra and Godavari districts, and a thorough probe into the presence of Rohingyas in Guntur and other districts.
DGP Gupta did not respond to ThePrint’s calls and messages to know the state police and intelligence wing’s preparedness to avoid any untoward incidents caused by nefarious plans and executions of terrorists and their sympathisers.
‘Tip of the problem’
While stating that they have expanded their surveillance network and CCTV penetration into areas of concern, a senior IPS officer posted in Rayalaseema expressed worry over the “growing ideological indoctrination of youth” from the minority community in the region.
The Muslim population in undivided Kurnool and Kadapa districts is over 15% and the community is highly concentrated in Rayalaseema towns such as Kurnool, Adoni, Nandyala, Kadapa, Rayachoti, Kadiri and Anantapuram.
“These arrests are the exposed tip of the underlying enormous problem. Thanks to the spread and easy availability of internet, everyone has access to all sorts of Jihadi literature, propaganda. Various social media groups operate to indoctrinate youth who could be easily influenced by the false or exaggerated portrayal of the oppression of Muslims within the country or the world over,” the senior police officer told ThePrint.
“There will be hundreds, or even thousands of such gullible youth right now in the state but we lack resources to deal with and nip the militant thoughts in the bud. Several police stations, in fact, operate at half the sanctioned strength.”
Another officer was anxious over the “ghettoisation” of Muslims in towns like Kurnool. “The community is closely knit, often segregated, suspicious about and even resisting police presence in regular duties too, which makes basic patrolling a challenge. In some neighbourhoods, Muslim constables are our only source of information,” said this officer.
On the Rayachoti duo choosing the town for their sleeper module and managing to go under the radar for two decades, SP Naidu said “such unnoticed areas serve as a haven because of low surveillance unlike in cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai”.
“They remain calm, assimilating with the local community, marrying locally, and go about their façade avoiding any trouble. But we have also stepped up our vigil and tactics to flush out such elements,” he told ThePrint.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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