IS suspect was in touch with terror groups: ATS
Cops say Ahmed used encrypted chat apps to stay in touch with people in Bahrain, Dubai.
Mumbai: The Islamic State (IS) suspect Nazim Shamshad Ahmed, who was arrested on Thursday in Mumbra by the Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorism squad (ATS), was allegedly in touch with terror groups in middle-east countries.
During the joint-operation with UP ATS on Thursday, the Maharashtra ATS seized Ahmed’s phone. The investigation agency found that many chat applications were installed on Ahmed’s mobile phone, which were highly encrypted, and were used by the accused to stay in touch with people in Bahrain, Dubai and other middle-east countries.
While the ATS has released two people, who were staying with Ahmed, it has sent their mobiles for technical analysis and has asked them to appear before it for questioning when needed. On Thursday, the Maharashtra ATS in a joint operation with the Uttar Pradesh ATS conducted a raid on a house in Mumbra and arrested Ahmed and detained two people — Ujefa alias Guddu and Gulfam — who were his flatmates and friends. While Gulfam and Guddu were released after questioning, Ahmed was handed over to the UP ATS and produced in Lucknow on Friday.
The ATS official during the search of the Mumbra residence of the trio seized three cellphones. “Various chat applications were installed on the mobile of Ahmed. A perfunctory check of his mobile revealed that the accused was in touch with some extremist groups in the Middle East. We have sent the phone for technical analysis as these apps are highly encrypted,” said an ATS source. “We are still investigating who he was in touch with him and will proceed once we get something concrete,” the official added.
An ATS source said that the two persons questioned in Mumbai have not shown any clear signs of being radicalised. “But we have been told that those in other states like Delhi, Bihar were radicalised. The officials have handed them back to their respective families and initiated the process of de-radicalisation,” the ATS source said. The ATS plans to monitor Guddu and Ujefa’s activities closely.