Ahmedabad: The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested five more persons from various districts of Gujarat for their alleged links with the banned Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
The five have been identified as Bilal Abid Shera; Mohammad Ayub Kadiwal alias Mohammad Khadiasan; Mohammad Shafi Mukhi alias Shafi Chapi; Mohammad Hasan K Radia alias Hasan Haiderpuri; and Mohammad Ayub Sumasra alias Mohammad Khali.
One of the accused was allegedly actively preparing to assemble a time bomb, investigations have revealed, as reported by NDTV.
The five traced and arrested after their names surfaced during the interrogation of members of the module taken into custody earlier. They have been remanded to police custody to allow central and state intelligence agencies to dig deeper into the network.
It was revealed earlier that the accused were getting financial assistance from their handlers in Pakistan. A handler had asked them to purchase a second-hand car as well.
One of the arrested operatives possessed advanced knowledge of explosives and was on the verge of making a live time bomb, the ATS revealed. Teams swooped in and captured the suspects just before the device could be completed.
The five, along with the previously arrested accused, were heavily involved in testing improvised explosive devices, officials said. Prosecutors informed the court that while the group had attempted to test a crude time bomb earlier, the initial experiment had failed.
Extensive searches are now being carried out by the ATS to recover hidden bomb-making materials, technical manuals, and highly radicalised JeM literature.
This is the third wave of arrests in a crackdown against the “Darul Islam Gujarat Jaish-e-Mohammed” sleeper cell. The total number of people arrested so far is 18.
The operation began after the Gujarat ATS successfully busted the core module by arresting the initial group of accused operatives. This initial breakthrough spanned multiple coordinated midnight raids across Gujarat, including at Banaskantha, Patan, and Navsari, as well as Dewas in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.
It came to light during investigation that the sleeper cell was communicating directly with Pakistani handlers named Abdullah and Mohammad Umar to recruit vulnerable local youth, raise funds, and set up a launchpad for future attacks. Authorities also seized over 250 radicalised digital files and translated jihadi texts.
Deeper digital forensics and sustained interrogation led the ATS to track down and arrest one more key operative, bringing the tally to 13. This individual was found to be a crucial link in supplying extremist material to other members of the cell.
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