12 Arrested Across States Over Links With ISIS, Al-Qaeda

The Andhra Pradesh police has arrested 12 people with suspected terror links following a coordinated multi-state operation.

Special teams were deployed in Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana and Rajasthan to arrest the suspects, police said on Wednesday.

"Multiple teams were constituted and deployed across Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana and Rajasthan, leading to the arrest of 12 suspects linked to extremist networks, including three from Andhra," an intelligence official told PTI.

Three people from Andhra Pradesh were identified as Mohammad Rahmatullah Shareef, Mirza Sohail Beg and Mohammad Danish, all residents of Vijayawada city.

According to police, the trio is allegedly involved in the promotion of extremist ideology and coordinating activities linked to banned terrorist organisations.

The suspects were in contact with foreign handlers linked to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and working towards anti-national objectives.

Investigation revealed that the three people had formed a group named "Al Malik Islamic Youth" with the objective of radicalising youth, preparing them for jihad and expanding their network across the country.

The Counter Intelligence (CI) Cell found that the accused established contact with banned terrorist outfits such as AQIS and ISIS, and were acting on the instructions from foreign handlers.

The three were allegedly working towards the concept of Ghazwa-e-Hind (war against India), and had expanded their network across several states by coordinating with operatives in different regions.

As per preliminary investigation, Rahmatullah, a bike taxi driver, was influenced by hate speeches of international terrorist leaders and actively followed and shared extremist content on social media.

Rahmatullah, along with Danish, who is a laser marking professional, and Sohail Beg, who works at a restaurant, allegedly expanded jihad-related activities through online platforms.

Rahmatullah developed contacts with a foreign handler identified as Al-Hakeem Shukur through social media and, on his instructions, collaborated with Shadman Dilkush from Bihar and Saida Begum from Hyderabad.

Further, he established links with individuals associated with ISIS-linked "Benex Com" group, including Ajmanullah Khan (Bihar), Lucky Ahmed (Delhi), Mir Asif Ali (West Bengal), Zeeshan (Rajasthan), Abdul Salam (Karnataka), Shah Rukh Khan and Shiyak Piyaz ur Rehman (Maharashtra), said the official.

The accused allegedly carried out activities based on instructions from these operatives and used social media platforms to promote extremist ideology and recruit youth.

The trio posted videos projecting themselves as Mujahideen, watched videos of Osama bin Laden and imitated him while engaging in radical propaganda, they said.

They allegedly replaced the national flag with that of ISIS in online posts, mocked the national anthem, burnt the national flag, praised ISIS and spread hatred against non-believers, declaring their objective of converting India into an Islamic state, they added.

Investigation further revealed that they were making arrangements to travel to Pakistan within a month to take part in training and were also motivating youth to undergo militant training in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Further investigation is underway to identify additional links and prevent expansion of the network, police added. 

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