Gujarat ATS arrests 4 al-Qaeda linked terrorists from...; Accused of spreading Islamic propaganda through...

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested four terrorists with alleged links to Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), officials said on Wednesday. The arrested accused have been identified as Mohd Faiq from Delhi, Mohd Fardeen from Ahmedabad, Sefullah Kureshi from Modasa in Aravalli, and Zeeshan Ali from Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Confirming the arrests, Gujarat ATS DIG Sunil Joshi said all four suspects were under surveillance for activities suspected to be connected to AQIS, a proscribed terror outfit affiliated with Al Qaeda. The operation was conducted based on specific intelligence inputs and coordinated surveillance, he added.

What were the terrorists involved in? 

Meanwhile, the police are interrogating them. The quartet, two of them from Gujarat, was arrested from different locations in a multi-state operation, officials said. “A terror module affiliated with AQIS has been busted by the Gujarat ATS. Four persons linked to the proscribed terror outfit have been arrested,” the agency said.

The group was reportedly involved in operating a fake currency racket and spreading propaganda of al-Qaeda's ideology. The accused terrorists did this through the use of social media platforms and suspicious apps. To prevent any government authority from tracking them or leaving any trace behind, the accused strategically used auto-delete apps to remove all traces of their communication and other details, according to sources. These four men were involved in sharing radical and provocative content, including jihadi propaganda videos of AQIS, on social media platforms with an aim to uproot democratic system and implement ‘sharia’ (Islamic law) in India through an armed rebellion, said an official release.

The ATS recently received a tip-off that some Instagram account holders were spreading extremist ideology of AQIS and trying to attract Muslim youth towards radical outfits by sharing inflammatory content calling for violence or terrorist acts against Indian citizens, said the release. Acting on the tip-off, the ATS kept a close watch on five such Instagram accounts and nabbed four persons, two of them hailing from Gujarat, who were running them, it said.

“These four individuals came into contact with each other through social media. We learnt that Delhi-resident Faiq was in contact with a Pakistani Instagram user and discussed ways to spread jihadi activities in India,” said Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Gujarat ATS, Sunil Joshi. 


(With inputs from agencies)