Delhi Police Special Cell has uncovered a major Al-Qaeda terrorist module and arrested 11 suspects from different parts of the country, officials said on Saturday (August 24). The police conducted this operation with the assistance of Rajasthan, Ranchi, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh Police. Out of the suspects linked to the Al-Qaeda's Khilafat module, 6 were arrested from Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, 4 from Ranchi, 1 from Hazaribagh in Bihar, and 4 suspects were detained in Aligarh. 11 of them have been arrested, the officials said.
The leader of this module was Dr Ishtiyaq Ahmed, who was employed in the radiology department of a well-known hospital in Ranchi. Other accused are identified as Motiur, Rizwan, Mufti Rahmatullah from Jharkhand, Faizan Ahmed from Hazaribagh, Bihar, Hasan Ansari, Unkamul Ansari, Altaf Ansari, Arshad Khan, Umar Farooq, and Shahbaz Ansari from Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.
How did the police carry out operation?
Delhi Police Special Cell received intelligence inputs about Ishtiyaq. The police detained him and carried out the interrogation. Upon examining his mobile phone and other electronic equipment, information about this module was uncovered.
The investigation revealed that all the terrorists linked to the module were connected through the social media app Telegram. They had created several groups, some of which had members from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other Arab countries. The leader of this module, Dr. Ishtiyaq, was conspiring to bring Sharia law to the country under the direction of his superior in Afghanistan.
How was the recruitment made in the module?
Recruitment for this module was done in two ways: first through social media, and second by visiting various cities with religious congregations. “Young men were being incited in the name of Jihad and lured with money. They were shown provocative videos to instil hatred in their minds,” the officials said.
The responsibility of training this module was given to Faizan, who was arrested from Hazaribagh. “He provided physical training as well as training in handling various weapons and making bombs to the suspects in the module. This training was being conducted in the forests of Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi,” they added.
Police recover AK-47 during raids
During raids at the hideouts of the arrested suspects, Delhi Police recovered an AK-47 rifle, a .38 bore revolver, six live cartridges of .38 bore, 30 live cartridges of .32 bore, 30 live cartridges of AK-47, a dummy INSAS, an air rifle, an iron elbow pipe, a hand grenade, a remote control mechanism, some wires, an AA size 1.5-volt battery, a table watch, four ground sheets, a target, a camping tent, and some provocative videos and literature.
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