'Don't know why they arrested my son': Father of Al-Qaeda operative

Faraj Ali, the father of Al Qaeda operative Al Mamun Kamal, who was arrested in Murshidabad by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), said he did not know why his son was arrested.

Murshidabad (West Bengal): The family of an Al-Qaeda cadre on Saturday claimed that they were unaware of the reason for the man's arrest.

Earlier today, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said that it foiled an attempt by internationally banned terror group al-Qaeda to set up a base in India, and swooped on its cadres in West Bengal and Kerala and arrested nine of them.

Acting on a tip-off provided by central intelligence agencies, the NIA, with the help of the state police forces, carried out raids in the intervening night of September 18 and 19 at Ernakulam in Kerala and Murshidabad in West Bengal and arrested the nine men -- Murshid Hasan, Iyakub Biswas, Mosaraf Hossen from Ernakulam and Najmus Sakib, Abu Sufiyan, Mainul Mondal, Leu Yean Ahmed, Al Mamun Kamal and Atitur Rehman from Murshidabad.

However, Al Mamun Kamal's family claimed that they were unaware of the reason for their son's arrest.

Read:NIA arrests 9 Al-Qaeda operatives plotting attacks in Delhi-NCR

"Al Mamun was sleeping in this morning like other days. NIA officers came to their home. They seized some papers and arrested my son. We couldn't understand why they arrested my son," said Mamun's father Faraj Ali.

According to the officials investigating the case, the arrested men are highly radicalised and were getting instructions from foreign handlers, including Pakistan-based al-Qaeda operatives, in cyberspace.

The module was planning to target vital installations in India as well as targeted killings.

Read:NIA arrests 9 Al-Qaeda operatives: Delhi police briefs media

It was in the advanced stage of procuring arms (including automatic rifles and pistols), ammunition and explosives to carry out attacks.

Some of its members were trying to develop expertise in IED-making too.

Besides, the module was trying to establish a well organised al-Qaeda network in different parts of the country, including the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir, on the instructions of the Pakistan-based handlers, the official said.

(With inputs from PTI)