The Asian Age

2 terror suspects, with Qaeda links, arrested in Delhi

One terrorist involved in assembling ‘radicalise­d’ youth, training them

- AGE CORRESPOND­ENT with agency inputs NEW DELHI, AUG. 10

A few days before Independen­ce Day, Delhi Police’s special cell on Thursday claimed to have arrested two men with suspected links to Al Qaeda.

In the first case, police arrested 29-year-old Syed Mohammed Zishan Ali, suspected to be linked to Al Qaeda, from the IGI Airport on Tuesday after he was deported from Saudi Arabia.

Police said that they were on the lookout for him ever since three alleged AQIS (Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontine­nt) operatives were arrested in 2015.

Ali is married to the sister of Sabeel Ahmed, who was arrested in connection with the Glasgow Airport attack in 2007, only to be released later. His brother, Kafeel Ahmed, had died in the suicide attack.

Ali was involved in assembling “disgruntle­d and radicalise­d” youth to be trained at camps the AQIS was planning to set up here, police said.

Among the 30 Indians deported from Jeddah for

visa violation, Ali was nabbed from IGI Airport.

In the second case, Rajaul-Ahmed, 25, also with links to Al Qaeda, was arrested following a tipoff on August 1. He was wanted in a case of fake Indian currency notes by the West Bengal police, who alerted Delhi police about his whereabout­s.

Just a few days before Independen­ce Day, the sleuths of the Delhi police special cell in a major catch arrested two men with suspected links to Al Qaeda in two separate cases on Wednesday.

In the first case, the police arrested 29-year-old Syed Mohammed Zishan Ali, suspected to be linked to the terror outfit. He was arrested from IGI Airport on Tuesday after being deported from Saudi Arabia.

The police said that the police were on the lookout for him ever since three alleged AQIS (Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontine­nt) operatives were arrested in 2015. Ali is married to the sister of Sabeel Ahmed, who was arrested in connection with the Glasgow Airport attack in 2007, only to be released later. His brother, Kafeel Ahmed, had died in the suicide attack.

He was involved in assembling “disgruntle­d and radicalise­d” youth and training them at camps that the AQIS was planning to set up here, the police said. The special cell got onto Ali’s trail following arrests of suspected AQIS members in

One of the suspects is married to the sister of Sabeel Ahmed, who was arrested in connection with the Glasgow Airport attack in 2007

December 2015, who had revealed that Ali was a key member. He was even declared a proclaimed offender, they added.

After the arrest of the suspected members, it was revealed that Ali was operating for AQIS from Saudi Arab

On Wednesday, the police was informed about 30 Indians, including Ali, being deported from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, due to visa violation. Ali was nabbed from the IGI Airport, said the officer.

In the second case, 25year-old Raja-ul-Ahmed, with links to Al Qaeda, was arrested on August 1 by the Delhi police following a tip-off from the West Bengal police. A senior officer from the Delhi police said that Ahmed was apprehende­d on July 31 and formally arrested in August 1. He did not divulge details about the place of arrest. He was wanted in smuggling of fake Indian currency note (FICN) by the West Bengal police, who alerted their counterpar­ts here about his place of hiding, an officer said.

Ahmed is a suspected member of Ansarullah Bangla Team, an Al Qaeda-inspired group in Bangladesh.

Later in the day, Zishan Ali was produced before a Delhi court, which remanded him in custody of city police for two weeks for interrogat­ion in a case of terror funding.

The deportatio­n of Ali assumes significan­ce as security agencies have cracked down on members of various terror outfits, particular­ly in the Kashmir Valley.

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