Nine men, accused of having been radicalized by a Pakistan-based Al Qaeda module to carry out terrorist attacks in India, were arrested by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) of West Bengal and Kerala in the early hours of Saturday. .
The men were arrested in multiple raids carried out in West Bengal’s Murshidabad and Kerala’s Ernakulam and were motivated to carry out attacks in multiple locations, including the National Capital Region (NCR), the agency said.
Here is the full statement from the NIA on the arrest of nine Al Qaeda operatives:
NIA Arrests Nine Al-Qaeda Terrorists From West Bengal And Kerala
1. Today (19.09.2020) early in the morning, NIA conducted simultaneous raids at several locations in Ernakulam (Kerala) and Murshidabad (West Bengal) and arrested nine (09) terrorists associated with the Pakistan-sponsored Al-Qaeda module .
2. The NIA learned of an interstate module of Al-Qaeda operatives in various locations in India, including West Bengal and Kerala. The group planned to carry out terrorist attacks on vital facilities in India with the aim of killing innocent people and sowing terror in their minds. Consequently, NIA registered case No. RC-31/2020 / NIA / DLI on 09/11/2020 and initiated the investigation.
3. The NIA has arrested 06 (six) terrorists from West Bengal and 03 (three) terrorists from Kerala in the morning raids. A large quantity of incriminating materials, including digital devices, documents, jihadist literature, sharpened weapons, domestically made firearms, locally made body armor, items and literature used to make homemade explosive devices have been seized from their possession. According to preliminary investigation, these individuals were radicalized by Pakistan-based Al-Qaeda terrorists on social media and were motivated to carry out attacks in multiple locations, including the National Capital Region. To this end, the module was actively participating in fundraising and some members of the gang were planning to travel to New Delhi to acquire weapons and ammunition. These arrests have been ahead of possible terrorist attacks in various parts of the country.
4. The details of the detained defendants are as follows:
(i) Murshid Hasan, currently a resident of Ernakulam, Kerala.
(ii) Iyakub Biswas, currently a resident of Ernakulam, Kerala.
(iii) Mosaraf Hossen, currently a resident of Ernakulam, Kerala.
(iv) Najmus Sakib, a resident of Murshidabad, West Bengal.
(v) Abu Sufiyan, a resident of Murshidabad, West Bengal.
vi) Mainul Mondal, resident of Murshidabad, West Bengal.
(Vii) Leu Yean Ahmed, a resident of Murshidabad, West Bengal.
(Viii) Al Mamun Kamal, a resident of Murshidabad, West Bengal.
(Ix) Atitur Rehman, a resident of Murshidabad, West Bengal.
5. Detained terrorists will be brought before the competent courts in Kerala and West Bengal for police custody and further investigation.
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