E-Paper
Arrested ISIS India head was planning to carry out blasts in U.P., elsewhere
The officials said Farooqi had done a trial of carrying out blasts at a deserted location in Udham Singh Nagar of Uttarakhand. But his plans were foiled after the arrest Shahnawaz and Rizwan, who were associated with a students’ organization of Aligarh Muslim University called Students of AMU (SAMU) in Delhi on October 2, 2023.
LUCKNOW ISIS India head Haris Ajmal Farooqi, who was arrested along with an associate near the international border in Assam’s Dhubri district after crossing over from Bangladesh on Wednesday, was planning to carry out blasts at several places in Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country, said senior police officials privy to the investigation .
The officials said Farooqi had done a trial of carrying out blasts at a deserted location in Udham Singh Nagar of Uttarakhand. But his plans were foiled after the arrest Shahnawaz and Rizwan, who were associated with a students’ organization of Aligarh Muslim University called Students of AMU (SAMU) in Delhi on October 2, 2023.
Farooqi completed his engineering course from AMU about 10 years ago and had a love marriage with a woman of Siwan in Bihar. Officials said the terror suspect’s wife presently lived at his maternal house in Siwan as he stopped visiting his native village in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. He is claimed to be the founder of Aligarh ISIS module.
The ATS was further exploring the ISIS network established by him in Aligarh and its adjoining region following which the investigators were approaching people in his friend circle like his batchmates, juniors and other friends, said the officials, adding the ATS was verifying the credentials of every individual.
Farooqi and his close associate Anurag Singh alias Rehan were arrested near the international border in Assam’s Dhubri district after they crossed over from Bangladesh on Wednesday. After the arrest of Shahnawaz and Rizwan in October last year, the UP ATS has arrested as many as eight members of the Aligarh module of ISIS since November 2023 while one accused surrendered in a court recently on January 8 earlier this year.
Farooqui was directly associated with a students’ organization of the AMU, Students of Aligarh Muslim University (SAMU) and used to give directions to other members through an instant messaging group. The ATS team will soon visit Assam to serve B-Warrant against him in the case registered again him in Lucknow ATS police station and bring him to Lucknow to question him further about the existing network of ISIS in UP.
