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31-year-old from Parbhani with links to ISIS arrested
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Thursday arrested a 31-year old suspect from Parbhani, who was in touch with an Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Thursday arrested a 31-year old suspect from Parbhani, who was in touch with an Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) handler in Syria.
Sources said he was getting ready for an “operation” when he was picked up by the anti-terror agency’s Aurangabad unit.
ATS sources said they have arrested Naser Bin Yafai Chaus — a civil contractor from Parbhani — after it came to the fore that he was radicalised by foreign handlers of the ISIS and he was in touch with them using various chatrooms for the past one year. Sources said he had plans to go to Syria to fight for the ISIS.
After the suspect was kept on the ATS’s radar, they monitored him and found he was in touch with one Faroque from Syria on social media. He also created multiple IDs to enter various chat rooms used by the foreign handlers of ISIS. The ATS investigations so far have also pointed to possibilities of Chaus preparing for an attack based on the instructions of his foreign handlers. So far, ISIS has not managed to strike in the country and many of their modules have been busted by security agencies, including the state ATS and the National Investigating Agency (NIA).
The ATS has filed a case under sections of the Indian Penal Code and under the sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967. He has been remanded in police custody till July 20 by a local court in Aurangabad. Police sources said Chaus was a college dropout and did a technical course later on. He lives in Parbhani with his family.
Investigators are now looking into whether Chaus was a lone wolf operator or whether he had accomplices. Most of the ISIS modules busted in the past by security agencies in the country have pointed to them operating in small modules. ATS officials are now going through all the emails and other technical evidence to check if he has any associates.
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