Bengaluru: In a major operation, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Gujarat Police, has arrested the key conspirator behind the Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) affiliated terror module from Bengaluru.
The accused has been identified as 30-year-old Shama Parveen. Authorities have said that she was running the entire module and the main handler, coordinating operations from Karnataka.
On July 23, the ATS had arrested four terror suspects from Gujarat, Delhi and Noida. They were Identified as Mohd Fardeen, Sefullah Kureshi, Zeeshan Ali, and Mohd Faiq, all aged between 20 and 25. The suspects were reportedly in contact with each other through a social media app and were allegedly assigned high-profile targets across India.
It has also been claimed that the group had cross-border links and was in touch with handlers outside India. Investigations also suggest they were planning coordinated attacks at prominent locations.
The arrests lend credence to the 32nd report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the UN Security Council’s 1267 Sanctions Committee, which warned that AQIS, led by emir Osama Mehmood, is being shaped to spread operations across Jammu and Kashmir, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.
Officials said that there a clear roadmap has emerged of the Al-Qaeda’s attempts to expand its footprints in the Indian subcontinent.