On Monday, July 11, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Surat Crime Branch detained another Bangladeshi national as a result of a joint operation in Surat. The arrested accused is believed to have connections to Al-Qaeda.
According to the preliminary inquiry, this suspect is a member of a different Al-Qaeda module than the individuals detained on May 21 in Ahmedabad. The handler of the previously detained person and the recently apprehended suspect, however, is the same. According to reports, the accused is guided by handlers named Shariful Islam and Shayba, who are the district leaders of a terrorist group in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district.
As a result of the most recent arrest, numerous intelligence and security services have been put on alert. They will shortly question the suspect for additional information. Preliminary intelligence, according to a top police officer, indicates that the Al-Qaeda Bangladesh module operates autonomously and is suspected of infiltrating several Indian cities, raising money, and radicalising young people in preparation for potential future strikes.
This arrest is the latest in a string of detentions that have occurred in the past fifty days. The authorities made their first breakthrough by capturing Bangladeshi nationals who were allegedly connected to Al-Qaeda. These people were believed to be involved in funding Rohingya rebel organisations in Myanmar.
The Islamic State of Khorasan Republic module was then busted resulting in the capture of three Jammu and Kashmir residents, including Sumera Malik of Surat and Tariq, another suspect from Gorakhpur.
Further, on June 28, the National Investigation Agency began a probe into the case of four Bangladeshi arrests made by the Gujarat ATS for their alleged links to the banned terror organization Al-Qaeda. The NIA lodged an FIR against them after they found that the arrested Bangladeshi individuals were involved in raising funds and were trying to radicalise Muslim youths to join their organisation.
