Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Abdur Rehman, a suspected al Qaeda operative arrested by a joint team of state and Delhi Police in December 2015.
Rehman has been charged under Section 121 (A) for waging war against the state and also under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act’s Section 17 (raising funds for the terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy), 18-A. (organising of terrorist camps) and 18-B (recruiting of any person or persons for the terrorist act).
He had reportedly admitted to his link with terrorists involved in the 1999 Kandahar plane hijack and 2002 American Centre blast in Kolkata during interrogation. He had allegedly visited Pakistan illegally and met top militants there, including Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Sajid Mir, both wanted in the 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks.
According to sources, Rehman was apprehended from Jagatpur on December 16, 2015, following intelligence inputs, pointing to his suspected links with terror outfit al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). The resident of Paschimkachha village ran a madrasa in Bilteruan near Tangi in Cuttack, where he allegedly recruited and radicalised youths for terror activities.
He also allegedly had links with a man involved in a failed car bomb attack at the Glasgow International Airport in 2007.