UP ATS arrests Bangladeshi terrorist from Muzaffarnagar
LUCKNOW /MUZAFFARNAGAR : The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (UP ATS) on Sunday arrested a suspected Bangladeshi terrorist from the Kuteshara area of Muzaffarnagar district in western Uttar Pradesh.
Abdullah Al Mammun was associated with the banned Ansarullah Bangla Team, an Al Qaeda-inspired Islamic extremist group in Bangladesh.
After a tip-off, the ATS team led by superintendent of police Brijesh Srivastava arrested Abdullah from a place of worship in Charthwal, where he is said to have been working as a preacher. The sleuths recovered 13 fake identity cards, a passport prepared on a fake identity proof, and seals of village pradhan, tehsildar, election officer and village development officer from his possession.
Abdullah was a resident of Momin Shahi district in Bangladesh, inspector general, UP ATS, Asim Arun said. He had, however, told villagers that he belonged to Assam. Abdullah had got a local agent to make a fake Aadhaar card and passport for him, Arun said, adding the suspect had been staying in Uttar Pradesh illegally to carry out terror activities. Before moving to Muzaffarnagar, Abdullah had been living in the Ambehat Sheikh area of Deoband in Saharanpur since 2011, he added.
He was allegedly inducting local youths in the extremist organisation and motivating them to indulge in terror activities, the police said.
When he was interrogated, Abdullah told police officials that another Bangladeshi national Faizan provided him with fake Aadhaar and passport in Deoband. Faizan had also given fake identity cards to illegal Bangladeshi migrants, he said. Police launched a manhunt for Faizan in west UP and detained three suspected sympathisers of the extremist group for questioning. The UP ATS and the local police have launched an operation in Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and Shamli to bust the terror network. (with inputs from Vasistha Bhardwaj and PTI )