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Terror suspect Saddam was born a Hindu, got radicalised later: ATS officials
During interrogation, Sheikh revealed his name was Ranjeet Singh. He originally belonged to Basedi village in UP’s Gonda and fled from his house at the age of 14 in 1998, when his father beat him up for stealing some belongings, says ADG
LUCKNOW Saddam Sheikh, 38, who was arrested by the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on July 1 for allegedly propagating the ideology of terror outfits on social media and his suspected links with the al-Qaeda, was born a Hindu and later embraced Islam during his stay in Mumbai around two decades ago, said ATS officials on Friday.
While being interrogated during his 14-day police custody since July 8, Sheikh revealed he was born a Hindu, and his name was Ranjeet Singh. The accused originally belonged to Basedi village of UP’s Gonda district and fled from his house at the age of 14 in 1998, when his father beat him up for stealing some belongings, said Naveen Arora, ADG, ATS.
He said Sheikh stayed in Mumbai after running away from the house and embraced Islam after coming in touch of a Muslim family when he was just 15 years of age in 1999. Thereafter, Saddam Sheikh worked in a Bengaluru firm as a lorry driver and got married to a Muslim woman after returning to Gonda. He has three kids, added the ADG.
“Around three years ago, he started getting radicalized after being inspired by al-Qaeda and Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind module and used to watch videos of terror attacks involving trucks,” said Arora, adding: “Sheikh worked as a lorry driver for nearly two decades and was planning to use a truck to carry out an attack similar to the July 14, 2016 incident in France, where a 19-tonne cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people resulting in deaths of 86 people and injuries to 434 others.”
Prior to this, the suspect had created a facebook ID with women’s names - Sayeda Mariyam and Sayeda Mahira - and kept posting radicalised material to approach terrorist organisations and came in touch with his Pakistan handlers, he added.
Another official said the accused’s name was Hizbul Mujahideen Saddam in a group formed on IMO messaging app by his handlers in Pakistan and Kashmir. Sheikh’s handlers started radicalizing him when he suspected his wife of having an extra-marital affair and planned to eliminate her and her entire family, for which he was making efforts to procure firearms.
Meanwhile, another terror suspect Rizwan Khan, 23, who was arrested from Lucknow on July 2 for alleged links with a militant organisation, had planned to carry out a major terror attack at the behest of his two handlers in J&K and Pakistan, said ATS officials.
They said he allegedly had links with Hizbul Mujahideen and was communicating with his handlers through instant messaging apps to plan a ‘lone wolf’ attack (done by an individual rather than an organisation) on Indian soil. A court sent Rizwan to ATS’ custody for 14 days.
