UP ATS nabs 8 with links to al-Qaeda and its affiliate from UP, Uttarakhand

Lucknow, Oct 11: The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested eight suspected terrorists having links with the al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent and its affiliate Jamaat-Ul-Mujahideen from different places, officials said.

The eight were arrested from different places in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, UP Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said in a statement on Monday.

The arrested suspects have been identified as Lukman, Mohammad Alim of Gagalhedi Kari Mukhtar of Manoharpur, Kamil of Deoband, all hailing from Saharanpur district; Shahzad of Jhinjhana in Shamli district, and Mudassir of Haridwar (Uttarakhand), the statement said, adding Ali Noor, a Bangladeshi national, and Nawazish Ansari of Jharkhand have also been arrested.

According to the statement, electronic evidence of alleged terror-funding and jihadi literature have been recovered from the suspects which confirm their affiliation with the terrorist organisations.

They have been found in contact with people active in strengthening terrorist organisations and networks and connecting more and more people with radical ideologues on religious grounds in India, the officials said.

The police have recovered several devices, including mobile phones, pen drives, and memory cards, which were used in suspicious activities, the statement added.

A UP ATS team had gone to Haridwar last week and arrested the suspects from Dadupur Govindpur village near Salempur in Haridwar district after a daylong recce, an Uttarakhand STF official said requesting anonymity.

The UP ATS had sought the coordination of Uttarakhand STF in making the arrests, he said, adding the terror module is accused of spreading Jihadi ideology in western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, especially through religious organisations based in Haridwar.

There is also information that Rs 2.5 lakh was recovered from Kamil, which is said to have been sent by Bangladeshi terrorist Abdullah Talha for terror funding, the official said.