Meerut (Uttar Pradesh): A youth was arrested by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), IB, NIA and Delhi police during raids in Meerut district on Saturday over alleged terror links, officials said.
The accused Mahkar, aged 22 years, was arrested during a joint operation by ATS, the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and the Delhi Police in Khiwai town, which falls in the Sardhana Police Station area. He is being interrogated over suspected links to Pakistani terrorist organisations. The arrested youth hails from Deoband in Saharanpur.
During their raids in Meerut and Saharanpur districts, the joint teams including ATS also detained two more persons during the raids which began at 3:00 AM today, but they were released after interrogation.
The 5-hour-long operation was launched after investigators found suspicious activities on Mahkar's social media accounts. He was allegedly in touch with many people in Pakistan through social media sites, and some of them were also allegedly linked to terrorist organisations.
The agencies had also received adverse reports about Mahkar, suggesting terrorist connections, according to officials.
The joint team then raided a house located in Ward No. 10 of the town, where the team interrogated three youths, including the one who was already in custody. After a long interrogation of about five hours, the team released the two youths and took Mahkar with them.
Police Station In-Charge Pratap Singh also confirmed the joint raids and arrest of youth over terror links. However, he didn't divulge any further details.
Earlier, the NIA has conducted raids in Maharashtra, Malegaon and Jammu and Kashmir, from where many suspects have been detained.
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