Gujarat ATS arrests 4 Bangladesh nationals, says al-Qaeda module busted

Four Bangladesh nationals have been arrested in Gujarat on charges that they illegally entered the country and were trying to radicalise local youth in Ahmedabad and collecting money, according to a statement by Gujarat’s anti-terrorist squad (ATS) on Monday.

The four were part of a local al-Qaeda module trained by their handlers in Bangladesh, the statement issued by deputy inspector general (DIG) Gujarat ATS, Deepan Bhadran said

The four persons were identified by the police as Mohammad Sojib, Munna Khalid Ansari, Azharul Islam Ansari, and Mominul Ansari.

“Based on the received intelligence, four illegal Bangladeshi immigrants involved in recruiting for ‘al-Qaeda’ were arrested,” said Bhadran.

He added that the police first picked Sojib, who earlier lived in Ahmedabad’s Rakhial area, for questioning.

“Sojib revealed that he and three other individuals are associated with al-Qaeda’s network and were receiving instructions from their handler based in Bangladesh, identified as Shariful Islam. Through Islam, these youths came into contact with Shayba, who is reportedly heading al-Qaeda’s operations in Mymensingh district, Bangladesh.”

According to the ATS, the suspects were trying to radicalise people in Gujarat and were also transferring funds to Bangladesh. The ATS did not, however, indicate how much money had been transferred.

“Gujarat ATS received information about four Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in Ahmedabad’s Odhav and Narol areas, using duplicate IDs. They are associated with al-Qaeda and have been motivating Muslim residents of the city to join the militant organization, as well as collecting funds for al-Qaeda.”

ATS said fake identity documents and literature produced by the terror group’s media wing were seized at the instance of the four suspects.

ATS said the focus of its inquiry was to identify individuals who facilitated their border crossing, ascertain methods to raise funds, identify local contacts, and individuals who may have been influenced by them.