UP ATS nabs ISIS terrorist who was planning to blow up BJP, RSS offices

The UP ATS spokesman said the accused had done an online recce of the houses and offices of some people associated with the Sangh and BJP. Azmi was waiting for directions from his masters to carry out the terror acts in many cities of UP, the ATS said.

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh ATS has said that the alleged ISIS terrorist Sabauddin Azmi, who was arrested from Azamgarh on Tuesday, had made foolproof preparations to blow up BJP and RSS offices in the state. A UP ATS spokesman said, "the accused had done an online recce of the houses and offices of some people associated with the Sangh and BJP. Azmi was waiting for directions from his masters to carry out the terror acts in many cities of UP," the ATS said.

According to police sources, UP ATS has found many such applications in Sabauddin's mobile, through which he was doing online recce of BJP leaders and people associated with RSS through online maps and passed on the information to his handler, Abu Bakr-al-Shami in Syria. The numbers of some suspicious people from Mumbai and UP have also been found on Sabauddin's mobile.

It is being feared that these could be the people who were arranging the material for making IED bombs to carry out the blasts. The ATS said that Azmi was getting instruction through the AL-SAQR MEDIA group on Telegram. In this group, youths are being instigated about the alleged atrocities on Muslims in India. During the Nupur Sharma controversy, Sabauddin had added many people to this group, ATS said.

UP ATS is keeping an eye on those people by taking them under its radar. Khattab Kashmiri was leading this group of Telegram. According to agencies, 'Khatab Kashmiri' is a code name. The group is operating from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. A few days after an IED was recovered in Ghazipur Phool Mandi, Khatab Kashmiri released a poster claiming that his sleeper cell had planted the IED and threatened more blasts in India in the coming days.

The UP ATS is preparing to take Sabauddin on remand on the court's orders for his interrogation. The ATS said that Sabauddin, a member of the Asaduddin Owaisi led AIMIM, wanted to create an organization like ISIS in India through active politics. He has also contested municipal elections. Pertinently, in the year 2017, ISIS terrorist Saifullah was killed in a 10-hour encounter by UP ATS in Kakori in Lucknow on March 9.

In 2020, Mohammad Yusuf, alias Yusuf Fidayani a resident of Bandhya Bhainsahi village in Balrampur, UP, was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi from Dhaulakuan. Yusuf was allegedly preparing to carry out blasts. Delhi Police and UP ATS had recovered a huge quantity of explosives and bomb-making equipment from his house. In 2021, UP ATS arrested 5 terrorists of Ansar Gajwatul Hind module in Dubagga, Lucknow and on 11 July 2021, 2 terrorists backed by Al Qaeda were arrested by the security forces.

The ATS claimed that both the terrorists were planning a series of bomb blasts in UP around Independence Day. Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi, who attacked the security personnel at the Gorakshanath temple in Gorakhpur earlier this year, was also arrested. Mortaza was allegedly in contact with ISIS.