The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh Police detained a Bangladeshi youth while carrying out an operation in Deoband on Thursday 28th April 2022 late in the night. It is reported that using a fake ID, the youth was pursuing his Islamic education at Darul Uloom, an Islamic educational institution in Deoband. It is suspected that he may have links with Pakistan based terror groups, as he had travelled to Pakistan, and may have attended terror camps there.
Another youth was also caught with him, who was let off after questioning. Apart from Bangladeshi currency, many books and other documents have been recovered from the detained youth. In the initial investigation, the ATS found the activities of the Bangladeshi national suspicious. The name of the youth is Talha Tarulqdar bin Farooq. He had been studying in Darul Uloom Deoband since 2015. However, Darul Uloom has not admitted to the raid.
At around 1:30 on Thursday night, the ATS reached Darul Uloom, a reputed educational institution, where ATS officials took the management into confidence and detained two students from room number 61 of the hostel built on the campus of the institution. After making inquiries and going through all the documents, the ATS let off one of the students as he belonged to Assam, while the other student could not give any satisfactory answers. This deepened his suspicions. A cupboard of the student kept outside the room was opened and searched. During the search, Bangladeshi passport, some Bangladeshi currency, IDs, books, and other documents were recovered from that cupboard.
According to the ATS, the student is a Bangladeshi national who had been living in Deoband since 2015 on the basis of fake documents by concealing his identity. He is from the Chittagong district of Bangladesh and he had made an Aadhaar card of Meghalaya in his name. Reportedly, the mobile phone that the ATS has found from him has revealed a lot of information exposing the said student’s suspicious activities in Pakistan.
According to a report by the News Nation, he has travelled to Pakistan, and his activities were being tracked for two-three years. It is suspected that he may have obtained terrorist training in Pakistan, and could be part of a sleeper cell in India. Jihadi videos have also been recovered from his mobile. Meanwhile, Maulana Abdul Khaliq Madrasi, acting Mohtamim of Darul Uloom Deoband, said that no arrests of any kind have been made from the institution.
