- Gujarat ATS arrested five more alleged JeM operatives.
- One accused attempted making a time bomb, material unrecovered.
- These arrests follow eight alleged JeM operatives detained earlier.
- ATS probes bomb material sources and jihadi literature procurement.
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Thursday arrested five more persons in connection with its investigation into an alleged terror module linked to the Pakistan-based banned outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), officials said.
The arrested accused have been identified as Bilal Abidbhai Shera, Mohammad Ayub Kadiwala, Mohammad Palanpuri alias Khali Ayub Sunsara, Shafia Rais Mukhti and Mohammad Hasan Kardia. They were apprehended from Khadiyal village in Siddhpur taluka of Patan district.
According to officials, the five were arrested after their names surfaced during the investigation into eight alleged JeM operatives who were taken into custody earlier this month.
The accused were produced before Judicial Magistrate R.M. Bhatia in Mehsana district, who remanded them to ATS custody until July 24.
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ATS Seeks Custodial Interrogation
Public Prosecutor P.R. Dantani told the court that the ATS required custodial interrogation as one of the accused had allegedly attempted to make a time bomb. He said bomb-making material and Urdu literature linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed are yet to be recovered.
“Their names emerged during the investigation. It was revealed that one of the accused had tried to make a time bomb. Literature and materials related to Jaish-e-Mohammed in Urdu are yet to be recovered. Therefore, the police sought remand for further investigation,” Dantani told reporters.
The ATS is also probing where the bomb-making materials were sourced, where they were concealed, and how the accused procured jihadi literature allegedly linked to the banned outfit.
According to Dantani, one of the accused allegedly attempted to test a crude time bomb, but the experiment failed.
Investigators further alleged that one of the eight persons arrested earlier, identified as Amin, supplied JeM-related material to the newly arrested accused, while another accused was familiar with bomb-making techniques.
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Eight Alleged JeM Operatives Arrested Earlier
On July 3, the Gujarat ATS had arrested eight alleged members of the Pakistan-based banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed from different parts of Gujarat and adjoining Madhya Pradesh. Police had then alleged that the accused were attempting to establish an active terror network in Gujarat.
The investigation is ongoing.
