Parbhani ISIS suspects planned blasts during Ramzan, says ATS
MUMBAI: Two men arrested from Parbhani for alleged links to the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-sham (ISIS) had planned to carry out blasts near dargahs and other religious places in Marathwada during Ramzan, according to the Maharashtra Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS).
ATS officials arrested civil contractor Naser Bin Yafai Chaus on July 14, while a second suspect, Shahid Khan, was arrested on Sunday.
ATS officials, who are investigating their links with suspected foreign handlers of ISIS, believe the two had planned strikes on the lines of the terror attack at the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia, on July 4.
A police source said while the two possibly did not have the expertise to engineer an attack like the one in Medina, they were being indoctrinated by ISIS handlers to target all those who oppose the Salafi or Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, which considers as infidels all those who follow a different religion — or sect of Islam.
The ATS seized a kilogramme of low-intensity explosives – ammonium nitrate and sulphur –an improvised explosive device and a circuit diagram from Khan.
Officials suspect he had been tasked with assembling a bomb and had sourced the explosives from various places.
A source in the ATS said Chaus had been in touch with an ISIS handler from Syria named Farooque through various social media websites, and had created multiple identities to enter various chatrooms used by ISIS members.
ATS officials are checking if Chaus’s foreign handlers had passed on instructions for any specific strikes.
A source added that Chaus and Khan will be brought face to face to help the police weed out contradictions in their statements and learn the exact nature of their plans.
The ATS has filed a first information report (FIR) against the two under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)