Bhopal:

In a significant breakthrough, the Madhya Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested an alleged Indian Mujahideen terrorist who was planning a lone wolf attack on personnel from the security forces, officials said on Thursday. 

Faizan Sheikh, 34, was arrested from Kanhar Mohalla in Khandwa’s Saluja colony after a raid on his residence. 

During the raid, ATS officers seized a substantial amount of jihadi literature related to the Indian Mujahideen (IM), ISIS, and other terrorist organisations. They also recovered a pistol, five live cartridges, four mobile phones and membership forms for the banned organisation Student’s Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

“The seized mobile phones and digital devices contained jihadi literature, videos, and photos from various terrorist organisations, including IM, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Faizan was also found to be in contact with members of SIMI,” said an official. 

He added that Faizan had been using social media, particularly Facebook ID, to propagate the ideologies of IM and ISIS. The 34-year-old circulated videos from Mujahideen training camps in Pakistan, speeches by Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba, details about the Kandahar plane hijacking, statements by Mullah Omar, and posts related to Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH).

“Faizan had been meticulously planning a lone wolf attack, monitoring and tracking the movements of security force personnel and their families. His objective was to emulate terrorists like Yasin Bhatkal of Indian Mujahideen and SIMI chief Abul Fazal, aspiring to gain recognition. To execute his plan, Faizan was also in the process of acquiring more pistols and cartridges through connections with local illegal arms dealers and individuals from outside the state,” the official said. 

ATS Inspector General Dr Ashish said, “Under the leadership of Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav, the state has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism and anti-national activities. The arrest is part of an ongoing effort to maintain heightened surveillance across Madhya Pradesh.”

Faizan has been charged under sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. 

The ATS has taken Faizan on remand for interrogation, aiming to uncover information about his associates and details of his plans.

Over the past three years, the Madhya Pradesh ATS has successfully arrested 22 people associated with the Popular Front of India, six with ISIS, six with Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), 16 with Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT), and 55 other suspected terrorists. 

The ATS has also seized a substantial quantity of arms, ammunition, anti-national literature, objectionable documents, and digital equipment from these individuals.

Between 2005 and 2013, IM was involved in multiple bomb blasts across India, including in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Pune. In Madhya Pradesh, IM co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal has established a robust network of members, focusing on recruitment and training.

New Delhi:

A special NIA court here on Thursday sentenced an operative of the proscribed Indian Mujahideen to 10 years’ imprisonment in a terror conspiracy case of 2012, an official said.

Syed Maqbool was convicted under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by the special NIA court here on September 22. His sentence was pronounced on Thursday. He is the fifth person to have been sentenced in the case out of the total 11 accused, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.

On July 12, four persons — Danish Ansari, Aftab Alam, Imran Khan and Obaid-Ur-Rehman — were found guilty in the case and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment.

The official said Maqbool of Nanded area of Maharashtra was arrested in the case on February 28, 2013 for his active involvement with members of the Indian Mujahideen based in the country and Pakistan and his involvement in the crime and conspiracy.

It has been revealed that he maintained close ties with key figures of the Indian Mujahideen, including Riyaz Bhatkal, who is based in Pakistan, and Imran Khan and Obaid-Ur-Rehman, who are located in India, the spokesperson said.

They said the operatives hatched a conspiracy to carry out attacks at various locations within India, with Hyderabad being a primary target. Extensive reconnaissance of important sites, including those in Hyderabad, was also conducted by them.

The case, registered in 2012, pertains to the conspiracy hatched by the members of the Indian Mujahideen, a group responsible for organising a series of devastating blasts across the country between 2006 and 2013, the spokesperson said.

These acts of terror include the Varanasi blasts on March 7, 2006; the Mumbai serial blasts on July 11, 2006; the UP courts serial blasts in Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow on November 23, 2007; the Hyderabad twin blasts on August 25, 2007; the Jaipur serial blasts, the Delhi serial blasts, the Ahmedabad serial blasts in 2008; the Chinnaswamy Stadium blast in Bangalore in 2010; and the Hyderabad twin blasts in 2013.

The trial in this case pertaining to the remaining six accused persons, who face a range of charges under the IPC and the UA(P) Act, is ongoing, the spokesperson said.

In March, the accused, including Yasin Bhatkal, Asadullah Akhtar, Zia-Ur-Rehman, Tehsin Akhter and Hyder Ali, were formally charged in the case. 

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