New Delhi: Who is Shaheen Shahid, the woman doctor arrested from Lucknow for being associated with a terror module operating across Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh?
She has been linked to the huge explosives haul in Faridabad. The module is believed to be an affiliate of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and it has come to be known that Shaheen was entrusted with establishing a women’s wing of the outfit in India.
The women’s wing of the JeM is known to function under Saadia Azhar, sister of the terror outfit’s chief Masood Azhar. Sadia’s husband Yusuf Azhar is among the masterminds of the 1999 Kandahar hijacking.
Shaheen was arrested with seven others, including Dr Muzammil Ganai, who was picked up from Faridabad earlier. An AK-74U Krinkov rifle was allegedly recovered from her car along with explosives, detonators and ammunition.
Hours before the Delhi blast near the Red Fort on Monday evening, eight suspects – including Shaheen, Ganai and another doctor from Kashmir – were arrested. The seizure of nearly 2,900 kg of explosive material from Faridabad blew the lid off a “white-collar” terror network involving JeM and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.
Hafiz Ishtiaq, the cleric of a local mosque in Faridabad has also been detained and is being questioned as explosives were found in his house. It is being suspected that Ishtiaq played a role in the radicalisation of the medical practitioners.
Shaheen’s car, a Maruti Suzuki Swift, has been seized. She was a resident of Lucknow’s Lalbagh area and a faculty member at the Al-Falah University. After her arrest, she was flown to Srinagar and questioned. Her contacts with Ganai are being probed.
It was in Ganai’s residence that another 360 kg of ammonium nitrate, along with a walkie-talkie, 20 timers, 20 batteries, a wristwatch, chemicals, and other materials, were retrieved.
