Arrested terror suspects family stage protest in Srinagar

Srinagar, Mar 15 (ANI): Family members of Bashir Ahmad Baba, who was arrested by Gujarat Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) staged a protest in Srinagar on Monday.

The family claimed that Baba does not have links with militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen.

Acting on intelligence inputs, the ATS conducted a raid and arrested Baba, 32, in Ahmedabad.

The family said Baba was in Ahmedabad to undergo a training programme conducted by a Non-government Organisation.

Seeking his release, Baba's family members urged the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to personally supervise the case.

"We want the State Government and Omar Abdullah should handle and supervise the case personally. We request the chief minister to find out why he (Bashir) has been arrested and for what reason he has been arrested and inform us," said Nazir Ahmad Baba, brother of alleged militant.

The family members say he had been framed and they had not been informed about the reasons of his arrest.

"He (Bashir) has been staying there (Gujarat) for last one month. Yesterday we came to know that he has been arrested when we watched news. They (police) said that this Srinagar boy has links with Hizbul Mujahideen and he has been manufacturing bombs. They (police) said a lot of things. This is totally wrong. He doesn't have any links with Hizbul Mujahideen. He is totally innocent," added Nazir.

Meanwhile the ATS said that it has seized documents from Baba including a diary containing e-mail addresses and contact number of persons in Gujarat and other places.

The ATS is scrutinizing the contact numbers and e-mail addresses found from Bashir and trying to trace it.

A local court in Gujarat's Anand city has remanded Baba to 14-day police custody.

According to the ATS, Baba's main job was to identify vulnerable youth, brain wash them and sent them to Pakistan for terror training.

Baba was also an expert in explosives and used to make bombs using tin cans of Pepsi, they said.

Baba also known as 'Pepsi Bomber' was capable of making bombs using tin cans which could be exploded using timer devices and could also be used as hand grenades. (ANI)