Maharashtra: Youth held for IS link were instigated by beef ban, says ATS

Mumbai: The beef ban in BJP-ruled Maharashtra and the killing of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri allegedly instigated the two arrested Parbhani youth to join the Islamic State (IS), said the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

“The duo during interrogation revealed that the two incidents angered them and therefore to avenge the alleged wrongdoings, they decided to fight alongside IS and serve the Caliphate,” a senior official from the ATS told The Indian Express.

One of the youth arrested on Sunday for alleged ISIS links was planning to attack an individual in the state, the officer added.

Officials added that Shahed Khan, the arrested accused, had been working with Naser Bin Yafai Chaus (31), who was apprehended earlier this month.

Khan, who was arrested from his house, was found to be in possession of explosives. Officials added they had been able to analyse the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and found it to contain charcoal, urea, sulfur, potassium nitrate and matchstick powder.

Sources in the ATS, who conducted the arrest operation, said Chaus and Khan had been recruited by an ISIS operative to carry out an attack on an individual in the Marathwada region.

“Looking at the make of the bomb, we suspect that they were planning an attack on one person. It is also possible that they were targeting one person who would be present in a crowded area so that maximum damage could be caused,” said an officer.

Khan, who was presented in a special court in Aurangabad by ATS officials, was remanded to custody till July 29. Officials have now sent his mobile phones and laptops for forensic analysis to gather if he was in touch with somebody else.

Sources revealed that a man identified as Farrokh had reached out to Chaus, a civil engineer from Parbhani, after Chaus started visiting websites and chat portals with many ISIS sympathisers.

“While Chaus wanted to go to Syria, Farrokh asked to stay back in India and help them plan an attack in the state, and as part of this, Chaus recruited Khan and both of them started working together,” said a senior officer. He added that Farookh also sent links and material available online about making bombs and IEDs.

“Farookh shared the data with Chaus who he was in touch with after having found him on a website propagating ISIS’s message. Chaus then sent this data to Khan, who then built the device,” said an officer.

In addition to the IED, the ATS officers found a trigger device in a car remote.

“In addition to an attack on an individual, we suspect they were planning attacks in areas like Nanded and Hyderabad and one of them was to be carried out during the month of Ramzan,” the officer.

Senior officers added that more arrests are likely in the coming days. “There was a whole Prabhani module in place and we suspect Chaus and Khan were working with others and our investigations are on for the same,” said an officer.

(This story originally appeared in the Asian Age)