Jharkhand ATS Arrests Suspected AQIS Member In Hazaribagh

Sources said that the arrested accused identified as Faizan Ahmed, a wholesale businessman who lives in Lohsinghana was arrested by a team of Jharkhand ATS and was produced in the court of ACJM in Hazaribagh. Faizan was arrested on the disclosure of his aide Ishtiaq Ahmed, who has already been arrested by the ATS in a terror case.

Hazaribagh (Jharkhand): Jharkhand Anti terrorist Squad (ATS) on Thursday claimed to have arrested a suspected terrorist affiliated with the Al Qaeda Indian Subcontinent from Losinghana Chowk of Losinghana police station area of the Hazaribagh district. A total of seven suspects have been arrested by the ATS in the state in the last two days.

Following his arrest, the Jharkhand ATS team presented the suspect in the Hazaribagh ACJM court, which sent him to ATS remand to Ranchi from where he will be taken to Delhi.

The arrested suspected terrorist has been identified as Faizan Ahmed, 45, son of Abdul Rashid. Faizan, who is currently based in Lohsinghana, deals with wholesale business in Hazaribagh and his parents live in Mandi.

Sources said that Faizan was in contact with a Ranchi doctor Ishtiaq Ahmed, who has already been arrested by the ATS in a terror case. Ishtiaq had come to Hazaribagh where he met Faizan and both had food in a hotel in Hazaribagh. The ATS team has also seized two laptops, a book, mobile phones and some electronic gadgets from the accused.

The ATS has been conducting major operations in Jharkhand for the last two days during which seven suspected terrorists have been arrested by the ATS. The suspects affiliated to the Al Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) terrorist organization were arrested by the Jharkhand ATS during raids at 14 locations including Caro of Lohardaga, Lohsinghana of Hazaribagh and many other districts. Weapons have also been recovered from the terrorist arrested from Lohardaga as per ATS sources.

According to the ATS, Hazaribagh is emerging as a stronghold of sleeper cells of terrorists. Shahnawaz Alam, a resident of Pagmil under Pelawal police station of Hazaribagh, was arrested by the ATS team. He was in the NIA's most wanted list. Shahnawaz Alam studied B.Tech (Mining) from NIT Nagpur in 2016 and lived in Abul Fazal Enclave in Delhi. He came to Hazaribagh during the lockdown and was arrested here in 2020 with weapons. He was also known as an ID expert. The NIA had placed a bounty of Rs 3 lakh on him.