Arrested HUT members were planning large-scale blasts in Hyderabad, says Telangana Police

Telangana police sources said that the accused were planning large-scale violence in Hyderabad through bomb blasts for which they had adopted a three-pronged strategy.

Hyderabad: Telangana Police, which recently busted an alleged Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HUT) module has said that the arrested accused members had planned large-scale blasts in Hyderabad through a three-prongedstrategy. Telangana Police on Tuesday arrested five alleged HUT associates following a tip-off by the Madhya Pradesh police's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

This was followed by the arrest of another absconding alleged HUT member on Wednesday. Sources in the Telangana police said that the accused were planning large-scale violence in Hyderabad through bomb blasts. To execute their plans, the HUT members adopted a three-pronged strategy, sources said. In the first stage, the accused radicalised the youth to recruit them into the HUT fold, the sources said.

In the second phase, the accused trained the recruited youth in technology and other aspects. In the third phase, the HUT were planning actual attacks on ground. Telangana Police sources said that the accused HUT members wanted to create a terrifying situation with mass attacks. The police said that the accused were trained in Vikarabad's Anantgiri hills to attack with guns, axes, and knives.

The busting of alleged HUT module in Telangana came after the Madhya Pradesh ATS arrested arrested 11 alleged HUT members including a gym trainer, software engineer and teacher, and booked them under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other relevant provisions of the IPC on Tuesday. In Telangana, police said that the members of the outfit held frequent secret gatherings in the name of “Bayan” as a strategy to radicalise the youth and recruit them into the outfit to carry out violent acts.

Sources said that the main kingpin in module, Mohammad Salim alias Saurabhraj Vaidya, came to Hyderabad from Bhopal in 2018 and got a job in a well known medical college here upon the recommendation of a businessman. A year ago he rented a house in the Golconda area and lives with his wife and six children there.