One 24-year-old detained from Mumbra couple of days after nine people were held by ATS

Four days after the Maharashtra ATS held nine youths – four from Mumbai and five from Aurangabad – on terrorism charges, another suspect was detained from Mumbra on Sunday. The accused have been charged of forming a terror module ideologically inspired by the dreaded extremist outfit – the Islamic State (ISIS).

Identity of the tenth detained youth was yet to be ascertained by the time preliminary reports emerged. He has been, however, confirmed as 24-year-old local.

The investigators have also seized laptop, tablet, hard disks, mobiles, and diaries from his residence. The arrest was made based upon the inputs provided by the 9 accused who were arrested on Wednesday.

Among the 9 “radicalised” youths apprehended earlier in the week, one has been confirmed to be a minor. The 17-year-old has been sent to the juvenile home — and is being interrogated separately.

The five accused arrested from Aurangabad have been identified as Mohsin Sirajuddin Khan (32), Mohammed Taqi (20), Mazhar Abdul Rashid Shaikh (21), Mohammed Mushahid-Ul-Islam (23) and Mohammed Sarfaraz (25); whereas, the three held in Mumbra are: Salman Sirajuddin Khan (28), Fahad Mohammed Ishtiaq Ansari (25) and Zaman Nawab Khuteupad.

During the course of interrogation, the ATS learnt that the accused had set up an alleged module titled ‘Ummat-e-Muhammadiyah’, and were in touch with their “handlers abroad”. They were planning a mass casualty attack, by resorting to mixing poison with food at congregational lunch or dinner, said an official privy to the probe, adding that they could had been planning this sort of attack on the occasion of Holi.

Source: Latest Fly