Four Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists who were arrested in Ahmedabad wanted to teach a lesson to Jews, Christians and members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, said the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad on May 20.
The Gujarat ATS said that, as per the examination of the recovered items from the four ISIS terrorists belonging to Sri Lanka, it has been revealed that there is evidence showing their commitment to “join the proscribed terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS), follow the path shown by Abu Bakr Baghdadi and teach a lesson to the attackers who commit atrocities against the Muslim community, as well as to teach a lesson to Jews, Christians and members of the BJP-RSS”.
The four accused have been identified as Mohamed Nusrath, Mohamed Faris, Mohamed Rasdeen and Mohamed Nafran. “All are citizens and residents of Sri Lanka,” ATS said.
The Gujarat ATS added that recovered items also revealed that four ISIS terrorists had conspired to carry out a terrorist attack at some place in India under the banner of the Islamic State (IS), and they would arrive in Ahmedabad.
“Mohamed Nusrath is also holding a valid visa of Pakistan,” the anti-terror agency added.
A pink parcel containing pistols, ammunition, and one black-coloured flag was also recovered from their possession.
Giving details of the arrest operation of the 4 ISIS members, Gujarat DGP Vikash Sahay says, “Since February 2024, these 4 people had been in touch with a person named Abu, who resides in Pakistan and is an ISIS leader. They were in touch with him through social media… Abu encouraged them to carry out a terror attack in India… They were so radicalised that they also agreed for suicide bombing… Pakistani resident Abu also gave them 4 lakh rupees in Sri Lankan currency… Two mobile phones have been recovered from them, which have photographs and videos proving their active membership with ISIS. Mobile phones had a picture of the Nana Chiloda area near Ahmedabad, which showed the place where ammunitions were hidden to carry out the terror attack. Pakistan-made ammunition has been recovered from the recovered location… Three Pakistan-made pistols and 20 active cartridges were recovered…”
#WATCH | Ahmedabad, Gujarat | ATS SP Sunil Joshi says, "On May 18, we received information that four people were travelling to Ahmedabad from Sri Lanka… They were going to execute a terror activity and are associated with a banned terrorist organisation… We detained them from… https://t.co/RWmDCglhvs pic.twitter.com/Friwd6TE7d
— ANI (@ANI) May 20, 2024
“All four of them are completely radicalised by the ISIS ideology and they are going to come to India to commit a terror attack. As per the information, they were going to reach Ahmedabad on May 18 or 19 either by railway or flight. Teams were formed and strategy was created based on the information received. Passenger lists of trains and flights coming from the south were analysed. All 4 of them were travelling from Chennai to Ahmedabad on the same PNR no. through an Indigo flight. Verification was done in Colombo too for confirmation,” Gujarat DGP said.
(with inputs from ANI)
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