New Delhi: Anti-Terrorism Squads of Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and the Delhi Police Special Cell Thursday carried out a joint search operation in a bid to unravel a terror network linked to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), detaining at least 14 suspects. Jharkhand police sources told ThePrint that this module may have had links to a network busted in 2019.
Police sources further said there were a total of 16 locations where raids were ongoing Thursday evening, including capital city Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Lohardaga in Jharkhand, Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi district, and Uttar Pradesh’s Lohardaga district.
Among those detained for questioning was Dr Ishtiyaq Ahmed, who is employed with a major private hospital in Ranchi. He was allegedly leading this terror module and conspiring to carry out terrorist activities across India, said police sources.
The crackdown against the terror network and sleeper cells was carried out by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Jharkhand Police in coordination with Delhi Police Special Cell.
Jharkhand ATS said investigators have so far recovered some literature and incriminating documents related to the banned outfit which are currently being verified.
Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said members of the module received indoctrination and weapons training at various locations. The spokesperson further said that six suspects had been detained in Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi district while eight others were detained in Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Jharkhand Police’s IG, Operations, Amol Vinukant Homkar said that the operation was launched based on intelligence inputs shared by the central agencies on the suspicious activities of some individuals.
“Jharkhand ATS, STF, Ranchi Police and Delhi Police carried out joint operations and eight suspects are being questioned. Some illegal weapons, mobile phones, laptops and incriminating documents are being verified,” he added.
A Rajasthan police source told ThePrint: “We received an intelligence input from Delhi Police Special Cell of a group assembling for arms training. A joint raid was conducted and three dummy Ak-47s, a pistol, a revolver with some cartridges have been recovered. Delhi Police have detained and taken away six accused for questioning.”
‘Linked to previous module’
While officers dealing with raids were tightlipped over the life and extent of this module, sources told ThePrint that suspects detained Thursday appear to be linked to a previous terror module busted by the ATS.
Investigators told ThePrint that suspects being questioned seem to be linked to a module run by Abdul Rahman Katki, an Islamic cleric from Odisha, who was arrested from his native place in Cuttack by the Delhi Police in December 2015.
After receiving his early education in a madrassa, Katki had moved to Uttar Pradesh where he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in theocratic studies.
Katki, reportedly, revealed to interrogators that he indoctrinated nearly two dozen youth to join the terror outfit across Ranchi, Chatra, Lohardaga, Gumla and Jamshedpur.
Based on Katki’s confession, the Jharkhand ATS had secured a warrant against Jamshedpur-based cleric Maulana Md Kalimuddin, alias Kaleem, who was allegedly recruiting and radicalising young people for AQIS on Katki’s direction.
Kalimuddin was arrested in April 2019 and as per Jharkhand ATS, he had travelled to Saudi Arabia, Africa, Bangladesh, as well as Asansol, Kolkata, Gujarat, Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh in India to mobilise youths to AQIS.
“It seems these operatives are linked to the old terror module busted by the Jharkhand ATS, in association with Delhi Police and central agencies. We will reveal full details in a short while,” a police officer said.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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