All four, natives of Sri Lanka, were intercepted at SVPIA Ahmedabad, were tasked with carrying out suicide attacks in Gujarat by their handler in Pakistan.
🇮🇳 | Four ISIS affiliated youths arrested at Ahmedabad airport by Gujarat ATS.
Four terrorists alligned to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) were arrested at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad. The terrorists were nabbed on Sunday night.
All detained individuals are Sri Lankan nationals. Extensive interrogation is underway by ATS and other concerned authorities. The terrorists have been identified as Mohammad Nusrath (33), Mohammad Faris (35), Mohammad Nafran (27) and Mohammad Rasdeen (43).
The arrests were made ahead of the arrival of IPL teams at the Ahmedabad airport for the qualifier and eliminator games. Reportedly aimed at sabotaging.
As per the information, they were going to reach Ahmedabad on May 18 or 19 either by railway or flight. Teams were formed and strategy was created based on the information received. Passenger lists of trains and flights coming from the south were analyzed.
All four of them were travelling from Chennai to Ahmedabad on the same PNR number through an Indigo flight. Further verification was done in Colombo too for confirmation. Radicalization material, communication in Tamil & weapons cache found in recovered evidence.
Alleged path of tour of the four terrorists.
The ATS team also recovered three Pakistan-made pistols and 20 cartridges lying abandoned at a location in the city’s Nana Chiloda area based on geo-coordinates and photographs found on the mobile phone seized from the accused. The men were allegedly in close contact & directed by their Pakistani handler to collect these weapons.
The terrorists were purportedly instructed to collect the arms and then stay at a “normal, low profile, budget hotel” by their handler, Abu, based in Pakistan. One of the terrorists had a visa of Pakistan and he had earlier and was going to meet their handler. The agencies also suspect that the terrorists were in touch with some people in India due to weapons cache being found.
Two of the four suspects, M. Nusrath and M. Nafran had been to India 38 and 40 times, respectively, while the other two were first timers, according to the ATS. Weapons were already supplied to a prescribed location as per recovered encrypted chats from their phones, where they were supposed to pick them up and wait for further orders.
As per the ATS, the targets of the group were, as they said, wanted to “teach a lesson” to the Jews, Christians, leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who allegedly commit atrocities against the Muslims of/in India.
“These people are highly radicalised. The terrorists came/were in contact with an IS (allegedly, ISI) operative named Abu in Pakistan. He had tasked them to carry out suicide attacks in Gujarat and gave them Rs 4 lakh to make bombs.” said DGP Vikas Sahay.
Primary investigation, in coordination with Colombo, revealed their criminal history. Gujarat ATS SP Sunil Joshi, in a press release provided following statements; “M. Nusrath has been earlier apprehended twice at Mumbai airport for smuggling of gold. He also has cases registered against him over assault and alleged narcotics offences in Sri Lanka. Similarly, Faris has offences pertaining to narcotics in Sri Lankan jail and was arrested twice. Rasdeen too has been arrested for theft and three drug-related offences. While Nafran has not been arrested, he has confessed that he has smuggled gold and drugs from Dubai and Sri Lanka in the past.”
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Police on Wednesday said a senior deputy inspector general appointed by IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon, will head a team designated to probe four of its citizens arrested in Ahmedabad.
As of until May, some major arrests have been made of IS cadres trying to operate in India. In March this year, two top leaders of ISIS in India (IS operates in the Indian subcontinent under the banner of ISKP – Islamic State Khorasan Province – referring to historical region of Khorasan) were arrested by Assam Police near the international border after they crossed over from Bangladesh. The arrested cadres were identified as Haris Ajmal Farooqi alias Haris Ajmal Farukhi, a resident of Dehradun and Anurag Singh alias Rehan, a resident of Panipat in Haryana. Ajmal was dubbed as alleged head of IS in India while Rehan served as his right-hand man. The case was later taken over by NIA.
Within a few days of Haris & Rehan’s arrest two IIT Guwahati students were held for alleged ‘IS links’ and were on their way to join the organization. Haris was majorly responsible for brainwashing and joining of young promising individuals and lure them to the trap of the terrorist organization.
ISIS, the alleged group that earlier destroyed Iraq, Syria and parts of middle East and Africa is now, slowly, silently & gradually spreading its wings and opening its fangs to engulf, indoctrinate and indulge in acts of rampant terrorism in India. The role of Pakistan is obvious, along with several other foreign adversaries majorly working with local support structures like SIMI, IM, PFI under the alleged cloak of political and religious favors. The NIA claimed the PFI has been involved in “recruiting (Muslim) youth to proscribed organizations like ISIS”. The PFI has also been accused of providing training to its members to carry out acts of terror.
Parting note – As the punchline of a famous crime show goes – “Saavdhan Rahein, Satark Rahein”. As a responsible citizen, stay alert & be on a lookout amongst yourselves. Keep yourselves informed & aware.
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