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Terror suspects nabbed in Lucknow may be linked to module busted in Delhi
LUCKNOW The five terror suspects allegedly associated with the al-Qaeda terror module busted in Lucknow recently were linked to the self radicalised terror module busted in Delhi last year after the arrest of UP’s Balrampur resident Abdul Yusuf Khan, said police officials on Thursday
LUCKNOW The five terror suspects allegedly associated with the al-Qaeda terror module busted in Lucknow recently were linked to the self radicalised terror module busted in Delhi last year after the arrest of UP’s Balrampur resident Abdul Yusuf Khan, said police officials on Thursday.
Khan was arrested in Delhi in July 2020 for allegedly planning terror attacks before the ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ for Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5, 2020. The Delhi police claimed to have recovered a large quantity of gun powder and a suicide jacket meant to carry out ‘fidayeen’ attack from the cosmetics shop and house of Khan in his village in Balrampur district.
A police official said the modus operandi of Abdul Yusuf Khan and the Lucknow terror module were almost similar. Khan as well as the key members of Lucknow terror module – Minhaz Ahmad and Maseerudeen –
were radicalised through online videos of Muslim extremists asking youths to prepare themselves to launch terror attack against India.
ATS inspector-general of police GK Goswami too confirmed that Minhaz Ahmad and others were radicalised after watching online videos. He said some extremists’ videos were retrieved from Minhaz’s cell phone.
Another official said Minhaz and his accomplices were planning to assemble bombs with gunpowder and other things easily available in the market. Khan and the Lucknow terror module members had learnt to assemble bombs through online platforms, he added.
The ATS was trying to trace the person who provided a pistol to Minhaz. Three more suspects – Shakeel Hussain, Mohammed Mustakeem and Mohammed Mueed – were arrested in Lucknow on Wednesday while tracking the same trail. They were arrested for assisting Minhaz Ahmad and Maseerudeen in arranging pistol and were aware about their planning to carry out serial blasts, said the IG.
Arrests part of political agenda before polls: Rihai Manch
Rihai Manch, an NGO that works for the cause of minorities, questioned the arrest of five people by the ATS for alleged links to the al-Qaeda, claiming there were many loopholes in this action.
In a press note shared with the media, Rihai Manch president Mohd Shoaib said the kin of arrested persons have also raised questions over the action taken by the ATS. He claimed that the arrests were part of a political agenda before the UP elections.
“The recent arrests in the name of busting terror module seem to be a similar planning of security agencies as was done during 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections by showing the encounter of Saifullah in Haji colony of Lucknow,” he alleged.
The press note stated that Minhaz Ahmad’s father, Siraj Ahmad, and other family members were threatened of dire consequences by investigation agencies, if they spoke to the media about the arrests. On Wednesday, Shakeel’s family members had also accused the UP ATS of framing him in the terror conspiracy.
