Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 2: The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police today arrested a terror suspect at Kishtwar for his alleged links with Junaid Mohammed, accused of recruiting militants for the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).
The ATS had arrested 28-year-old Junaid Mohammed on May 24 from Pune’s Dapodi area, following which he was remanded into the agency’s custody till June 3. He was allegedly in touch with the active members of Pakistan-based LeT’s terror network through social media platforms, officials have said.
Sources told the Excelsior that ATS Maharashtra team comprising three Inspectors apprehended Aftab Hussain Shah son of late Jabbar Shah, a resident of Patimahalla in Kishtwar in case FIR No. 9/2022 under Sections 121A, 123A, 153A and 116 IPC registered at ATS Police Station Pune on May 24.
The ATS Pune conducted the raid and arrested the terror suspect in coordination with local police.
Later, he was produced before a court in Kishtwar and taken on three days remand.
He will be subjected to sustained questioning for his links with Junaid Mohammed and other accused. There were reports that Junaid was in touch with three terror suspects in Jammu and Kashmir including two hailing from the Valley and one from Jammu division.
“A team of the Maharashtra ATS has been in Jammu and Kashmir since the last few days for investigation about the links of Junaid Mohammed. While investigating the links in the case, the ATS team received information about a man, who was in touch with Junaid via social media and other platforms,” sources said.
“Accordingly, the state ATS team went to Kishtwar and nabbed the accused,” sources said, adding that he is being brought to Mumbai.
Junaid Mohammed was assigned the task of recruiting new members for the LeT from various States, sources said, adding as part of his mandate he tried to take fresh recruits to Jammu and Kashmir to train them to carry out terror activities in the country.
He would receive money from his handlers for completing the given task. During his interrogation, it came to light that the terror suspect had received Rs 10,000 from a Jammu and Kashmir-based bank account.
Based on the specific information, the Kalachowky unit of the ATS had launched a probe against four suspects, including Junaid, in connection with recruiting new members for LeT and sending them to Jammu and Kashmir for training and terror activities, sources said.
The ATS had registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 121A (conspiracy to commit offences), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 116 (abetment of an offence) and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act and Junaid was apprehended by the team led by police inspector Manjusha Bhosle, sources said.
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