The four alleged Islamic State (IS) operatives arrested from Parbhani were planning a massive attack on offices of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Marathwada. This information was added in the chargesheet filed by the ATS at a Nanded court on Friday.
The four accused —Parbhani residents Naser bin Chaus (34), Iqbal Ahmed (28), Shahid Khan (24) and Raeesuddin Siddiqui (37) —were arrested in July for their alleged links to the banned terrorist outfit. All four were allegedly planning an attack in the state during the month of Ramzan. The ATS has also named Farookh, allegedly a Syria-based IS operative who recruited them into the outfit and asked them to plan the attacks.
According to ATS sources, Chaus had recruited Ahmed, Khan and Siddiqui. “Chaus was the initial contact for Farookh and through him, Farookh was introduced to the other three,” said a source. The source added that they gathered evidence that all ATS offices were in their target list. “The accused were planning an attack on all the ATS units and the buildings which housed them in the Marathwada region,” said the source.
Shockingly, ATS officials especially the senior-level officers were also to be “eliminated.”
”In addition to targeting buildings of the ATS, they were also keeping a track of the movements of all senior ATS officials in the region including the ATS chief, who has his office in Mumbai. They had planned to plan an attack on most of the top officials,” the source revealed.
The ATS in its 3,632-page chargesheet has included conversations and transcripts of emails exchanged between Chaus and Farookh, between the rest and Farookh and talks among the four of them. “We have included links of videos that Farookh had sent Chaus and the others. These videos were imperative in radicalising them,” the source said.
