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4 Al-Qaeda terrorists arrested by Gujarat ATS, documents on 'Operation Sindoor' seized
Gujarat ATS DIG Sunil Joshi said that all four individuals had been under watch for suspected links to Al-Qaeda.
Four terrorists with alleged links to terror outfit Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent (AQIS) have been arrested by Gujarat’s Anti-Terror Squad, said officials on Wednesday.
According to ATS Deputy Inspector General Sunil Joshi, a detailed press conference will be held to share information about the arrest and their links to the terror group.
The arrested terrorists 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, ANI reported.
Two of the four accused are from Gujarat and were 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 ATS said.
The four men were accused of 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, an official release of the probe agency said.
Active on social media
The four terrorists who have been arrested were allegedly involved with a fake currency racket and also spread terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda’s ideology. The accused allegedly used social media platforms along with other apps to spread the terrorist organisation’s ideology.
"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," Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Gujarat ATS, Sunil Joshi said.
The official also said that during a raid at Mohammad Fardeen Shaikh's house in Fatehwadi area of Ahmedabad, the ATS found a sword and AQIS literature promoting jihad against India for its 'Operation Sindoor' carried out against Pakistan in May, according to PTI.
The sources added that the terrorists used an auto-delete app to get rid of their communication footprint and dodge suspicion. They were allegedly linked with Al-Qaeda for a long time and had come in touch with it through social media, according to Gujarat ATS officers.
Gujarat ATS DIG Sunil Joshi said that all four individuals had been under watch for suspected links to the terror outfit and that the operation to arrest them was done based on specific intelligence inputs and coordinated surveillance, the ANI report said.
Whether the police recovered weapons or explosives during the arrest is not yet known.
The arrest comes as a major development in India’s crackdown on terror activities, particularly after the deadly terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22 in which 26 people died, most of whom were tourists.
On Saturday, Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) conducted raids at multiple locations in Kashmir in a terror case and detained 10 suspected persons. Police said raids were conducted at 10 places in Budgam, Pulwama, Ganderbal and Srinagar.
