Maharashtra ATS makes one more arrest in Al-Sufa terrorist organisation probe

Maharashtra ATS has made another arrest as part of its probe into the Al-Sufa terrorist organisation case. According to reports, the arrested terrorist is a 40-year-old and his name is Abdul Qadir. He was detained by the ATS in Gondia district of Maharashtra, the sources said. 

According to a top ATS official, Qadir is suspected of providing the two suspects who had been previously apprehended with refuge and a place to hide. Qadir was presented before a Gondia court on Friday (July 28), where the judge ordered him to remain in ATS custody while the probe is underway.

The ATS took over the probe into the case from the Pune police recently.

A few days ago, two terror suspects, wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for their alleged involvement in a terror-related case in Rajasthan, were nabbed from Kothrud area of Pune city on July 18. A court in Pune later remanded the duo – Mohammad Imran Mohammad Yunus Khan (23) and Mohammad Yunus Mohammad Yakub Saki (24) – in police custody till July 25, which was extended till August 25.

The ATS has also detained a person from Ratnagiri, but it is not yet clear whether that man is the same person held for giving shelter to the terror suspects. The two arrested suspects hail from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and are graphic designers. Both carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh each, the police said.

They fled Ratlam after coming to know that their names cropped up in the investigation in the terror case in which some suspected members of the Al-Sufa outfit were apprehended by the Rajasthan police from the Madhya Pradesh town, the police said.

They landed in Mumbai, where they stayed in the Bhendi Bazaar area for two to three days and then came to Pune’s Kondhwa area. The duo took up jobs with the help of a local resident, the sources said. They befriended a third person, a resident of Jharkhand, who managed to escape when the police nabbed the duo, they said.

The ATS said that they recovered a tent, which the two terror suspects had procured to live in the jungle areas. Several items, such as laptops, tablets, weighing machines, parts of drones, maps, electric circuits, a soldering gun, black powder, and books written in Arabic, were also recovered from the duo, it said.

“During the analysis of the black powder, it came to light that it was an explosive substance,” it said. The ATS also added that they also recovered a tent, which they had procured to live in jungle areas.

Sources said that the two terror suspects were exploring possible hideouts in the jungle areas surrounding the Pune district in a bid to escape the eyes of the investigation agencies.

After taking over the investigation in the case, the ATS has slapped stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against the suspects as the seized items suggest that the duo had received training on making bombs and posed a threat to the unity and security of the nation, they said.

The ATS also said in its statement that multiple teams were working to trace the third suspect, who managed to escape during the operation on July 18.

(With inputs from PTI)