Rajkot: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) apprehended three individuals for allegedly having connections with Al Qaeda. These suspects, originally from West Bengal, were found to be working in a gold market in Rajkot city.

The arrested men, namely Abdul Sakur Ali S/O Hazrat Shaikh (living near Garden Chowk in Rajkot), Aman Malik, S/O Siraj Malik (living in Rajkot Soni Bazar), and Saif Nawaz, S/O Abu Sahib (living in Rajkot Soni Bazar), were reportedly operating under the guidance of a Bangladeshi handler with the objective of radicalising others and recruiting them for the banned terrorist organisation.”

The ATS team received a tip-off and monitored the suspects for the last three to four days before nabbing them for questioning on Monday night, as mentioned by Superintendent of Police, ATS, Om Prakash Jat.

During the arrest, the accused were found in possession of a country-made semi-automatic pistol, cartridges, radical literature, videos, and other materials.

The three accused used highly encrypted messaging apps to communicate with their handler, based in Bangladesh. The handler instructed them to carry out various tasks, including radicalising others to join their cause.

The interrogation revealed that one of the accused, Aman Malik, had been in contact with a foreign handler through the Telegram app for the past year. The handler, who was the head of Al Qaeda in Bangladesh, tasked Malik with inspiring others to join the terrorist organisation.

The recovered pistol was in Malik’s possession, but the specific intent behind it was not immediately clear. The handler was supposed to instruct him on how to use it.

Malik convinced Shukra Ali and Shaif Nawaz, who shared the same radical mindset, to work for the terrorist outfit. An ongoing investigation aims to determine who else joined the accused and how the weapon was obtained.

The accused were arrested under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act. A forensic examination of their mobile phones will be conducted to understand financial transactions and deleted data.

Videos, photos, and radical literature were discovered on the trio’s mobile phones, and their motives for obtaining such materials are being investigated through forensic analysis.

Earlier in May, the ATS apprehended four members of an Al Qaeda module who were living illegally in Ahmedabad after being trained by their handlers based in Bangladesh. DeshGujarat