Kolkata Police’s special task force (STF) on Monday arrested a man from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh for having suspected links with the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organisation, officials said.
The person has been identified as 33-year-old Abdul Raquib Qureshi. A mobile phone, a pen drive and some incriminating documents were seized from the suspect who is being brought back to Kolkata.
Earlier on January 6, the STF had arrested two persons Md Saddam (28) and Sayeed Ahmed (30) from Howrah district in West Bengal. A team was sent to Madhya Pradesh soon after the duo was arrested.
“Qureshi, a former activist of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), was in constant touch with Saddam and Ahmed. The two accused revealed the name of Qureshi during interrogation,” said a senior police officer.
The two were charged under sections 121 (waging war against the government) and 122 (collecting arms to wage war) of the Indian Penal Code, and are now in police custody.
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“While Saddam is an MTech dropout working at a Gurugram-based software company, Ahmed works at his father’s firm,” a senior police officer said.
Preliminary investigations revealed that they were recruiting youths, arranging arms and explosives, and raising funds to allegedly carry out terrorist activities.
Police said they raided the place upon the duo’s arrest and seized materials, including several laptops, mobile phones, hard drives, pen drives, notebooks, debit cards and a two-wheeler.
Moreover, jihadi literature, a list of some jihadi channels and names of some companies were also seized, the police said.
“Saddam had even pledged his allegiance to the ISIS in the form of a bayat (oath). The Arabic oath was found in a handwritten diary recovered from his house,” the officer added.
