As per the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), the Islamic State (IS) Luknow- Kanpur terror module, which is allegedly responsible for the Bhopal-Ujjain train blast had plans to kill three Islamic educationists.
These three educationists are the senior members of a Lucknow-based Islamic seminary. The terror group planned to kill them because they had opposed their extremist ideologies on several occasions and were pretty vocal against the group. The group had done a recce of the seminary, and were waiting for the right moment to kill them.
“The details of the plot to attack the seminary members was revealed by Gaus Mohammad Khan, a former Indian Air Force (IAF) corporal and also the “motivator” of the alleged terror module,” said an ATS official on the condition of anonymity.
Sources also suggest that a diary found in the house of Saifullah, one of the suspects killed in the Lucknow encounter, gave away the group’s deadly plan. The diary mentioned March 24 as the deadline to execute the attacks.
Following this revelation, the members of the Islamic seminary have been provided security personnel. Their names haven’t been revealed due to the security reasons. Apart from killing these members, the module had also planned to target Dewa Sharif Dargah of Barabanki (near Lucknow) and Bada Imambara (a popular tourist destination) in Lucknow!
NIA to further probe the case
The Union home ministry has asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the Bhopal-Ujjain blast case. The team may take over the case formally from today and will take the accused on remand. However, the first challenge before the NIA would be to determine whether both Saifullah and the arrested accused have any links with ISIS or not.
Currently the three accused in the case – Atish, Mir Hussain and Danish are in the custody of the Madhya Pradesh Police while the other two – Gaus Mohammad Khan and Azhar are in the custody of the Uttar Pradesh Police.
IS ‘inspired’ youth under ATS scanner
Inspired from ISIS ideology, at least 12 youngsters are under the radar of the ATS. According to the sources, these youngsters are currently jobless and their activities are being regularly monitored by the officials. Earlier 4 such youth were detained by the ATS.
“The youngsters are brainwashed via social media. People who get trapped by these IS operatives are generally economically weak and jobless. Once the IS operative feel that their target is getting influenced by them, they immediately provide some money and prepare them for Jihad,” said a senior ATS officer.
Maharashtra ATS detains man from MP in ISIS case
Meanwhile, a 26-year-old man was detained in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh by the Maharashtra ATS.
A Shaikh, who is a resident of Khargone city and has just completed his M.Tech, was detained reportedly for being in touch with one of the accused in the blast case.
