Let us kill Modi “Insha Allah:” A dreaded ISIS plot exposed in Gujarat

Let us take Modi out with a sniper rifle an ISIS operative told his associate in Gujarat. A chargesheet filed by the Gujarat ATS in connection with an Islamic State related case involving two operatives details how the outfit planned on targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The ATS filed the chargesheet against Ubed Ahmed Mirza and Mohammad Kasim Stimberwala before the chief judicial magistrate at Anleshwar in Bharuch district. The ATS said that Mirza had plotted along with Stimberwala to assassinate Modi.

Mirza tells Stimberwala, " let us take Modi out with a sniper rifle, Inshah-Allah." This was part of a WhatsApp chat between the two in which Mirza identifies himself as Ferrari.

In the chat the duo also discuss on procuring pistols and other arms. They speak about carrying out lone wolf attacks. In another conversation, they discuss as to how risky it is to procure pistols. They say that they should instead use knives to target people as the weapon will not be detected by the security agencies.

The duo were highly radicalised by the ideology of the ISIS. They were radicalised online by one Abdullah-e-Faizal, an Islamic preacher from Jamaica, the ATS also learnt.

Targeting Jews:

Apart from Gujarat, they had also planned lone wolf strikes in Mumbai. While Stimberwala worked as a laboratory technician at a hospital in Ankleshwar, Mirza was a lawyer practising in the Surat district court. Both were "highly radicalised by the Jihadi ideology of the Islamic State and actively planning lone wolf attacks on Jews.

The arrested duo was in touch with el-Faisal and Shafi Armar to plan attacks on Jews in India and conducted a recce of some of the targets. They were even planning to send radicalised youths outside India to take part in terrorist acts, the charge sheet said. Though Stimberwala and Mirza tried to procure weapons through their contacts in Delhi and Lucknow, they failed, said the charge sheet.

Apart from planning a 'lone-wolf' attack on the synagogue in Khadia area here, for which Stimberwala conducted a recce, they also thought of carrying out attacks in Nariman Point area in Mumbai to maximise the impact as a considerable number of Jews lives there, it said.

Both have been charged with IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 121-A (sedition) and 125 (waging war against any Asiatic power in alliance with India). They were also booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). As per the FIR lodged in October, both the accused were under the influence of El-Faisal, who was convicted of spreading hatred in the UK and deported to Jamaica. El-Faisal was subsequently detained in Jamaica on the charge of persuading youths to travel to Syria to take up jihad.