The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested four suspected ISIS terrorists, all of whom are Sri Lankan nationals, at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad.
The Gujarat ATS has taken the suspects to an undisclosed location for intensive questioning, reported TV9 Gujarati. The precise motive behind their presence at the Ahmedabad airport is not clear.
According to reports, the terrorists traveled from Sri Lanka to Ahmedabad via Chennai. There were claims in the local media that they were in contact with handlers in Pakistan.
The airport has increased security throughout.
Three IPL teams were scheduled to arrive at the Ahmedabad airport for the qualifier and eliminator games, but the arrests were made beforehand.
Two of ISIS’s highest ranking members were detained in March in India close to the border with Bangladesh. The two ISIS cadres that were apprehended were Anurag Singh, also known as Rehan, who lived in Panipat, Haryana, and Harish Ajmal Farooqi, also known as Harish Ajmal Farukhi, who lived in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
Both people were characterized as highly driven and brainwashed ISIS commanders in India, engaged in a range of operations such as funding terrorism, recruiting, and organizing terror attacks with the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
“They had furthered the cause of ISIS in India through conspiracies to carry out recruitment, terror funding and terror acts by means of IEDs at several places across India,” claimed a police official.
The STF claims that many cases were filed against these two by the ATS in Lucknow and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in New Delhi.
In October last year, Shahnawaz alias Shafi Uzzama, a suspected ISIS terrorist who was on the most wanted list of the NIA, was arrested by the Delhi Police during a major crackdown by the anti-terror agency. Shahnawaz was wanted in the Pune ISIS module case and the NIA had declared a reward money of ₹3 lakh for credible information leading to his arrest.
