Lucknow Another alleged Hizbul Mujahideen operative, Firdaus Ahmad Darr, was arrested by U.P. Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) from Anantnag (Jammu and Kashmir) on Friday. This came just a day after the ATS held terror suspect, Ahmad Raza (24), from Moradabad, said senior police officials here on Saturday.
According to officials, Darr was arrested with the help of National Investigation Agency (NIA). They said that the ATS court on Saturday granted a 14-day custody -- from 10 am on Sunday to 6 pm on August 19 -- for the security agency to interrogate Darr.
While seeking his custody remand, a senior ATS official said Darr influenced Ahmad Raza and recruited him to Hizbul Mujahideen. He said Darr was in regular touch with Pakistani handler Gazi through different messaging applications. He said Gazi has promised Darr to provide a consignment of firearms, ammunitions and explosives to carry out terror activities in the valley and eventually establish the Sharia law in India. Darr was also asked to recruit people across the country for this mission.
The official added that Darr has confessed to undergoing firearms training in Hizbul camps and taking pledge for his recruitment in the terror outfit. Previously, the ATS had procured Raza’s custody remand for 14 days as well.
{{/usCountry}}The official added that Darr has confessed to undergoing firearms training in Hizbul camps and taking pledge for his recruitment in the terror outfit. Previously, the ATS had procured Raza’s custody remand for 14 days as well.
{{/usCountry}}The ATS, while seeking the remand, said that Raza will be taken to Jammu and Kashmir, Moradabad, and Saharanpur to procure more information about his nefarious intentions and plans. He was allegedly associated with Hizbul Mujahideen. Also, he was in constant touch with a Pakistan-based handler and two Hizbul commanders. He allegedly also received firearms training at two places in Jammu and Kashmir in 2022 and was planning some terror activity.
The ATS claimed to recover several Jihadi videos, pictures of different arms and ammunition, and its training modules from his mobile phone gallery. It was also claimed that he was honey trapped by a Mumbai-based woman Ameena with whom he interacted over phone and then dragged into the terror network.
The officials also said that Ahmad Raza was arrested from his house in Guladiya village under Mudha Pandey police station limits of Moradabad and was later brought to Lucknow to produce him before the ATS court in Lucknow on Friday. They said that the court allowed his custody for further interrogation from Friday 2 pm to 6 pm on August 17.
In the application submitted to the court, the ATS officials said that they would take the suspect to Moradabad to recover a pistol from him that he has hidden at a secret place in his village. They further said that the suspect will also be taken along to Jammu and Kashmir to discover the places where he stayed during his two visits for firearms training in Jammu and Kashmir last year and recently, during the month of Ramzan.
The ATS said that the suspect was in regular touch with a Pakistan-based handler and senior members of Hizbul Mujahideen in Pir Panjal range of Kashmir and was planning to go for advance militant training in Afghanistan (via Pakistan) to join Tailban’s elite unit Badri commando unit. The Taliban’s Badri 313 battalion are the unit of commandos with rigorous and specialised training. The unit played a pivotal role for Taliban to take over Afghanistan.
Earlier, ATS ADG Naveen Arora had said that the suspect was deeply influenced by Jihadi ideology. He said that Raza had a firm belief that Jihadi organisations will uproot the Indian government and establish Sharia law in the country.