Lucknow: The Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday arrested a suspected terrorist from Saharanpur. The arrested person is accused of radicalizing youths for terror activities. The arrest was made on the information received by Lukmaan, a Bangladeshi terrorist, who was nabbed earlier on September 26 for allegedly having links with al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and the Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
The suspected terrorist was identified as Azharuddin alias Chiraguddin, a resident of Saharanpur. According to ADG UP ATS Naveen Arora, Azharuddin used to provide "jehadi videos and literature" to youths in a bid to radicalize them and was working actively to make them connect with the ideology of terror organizations AQIS and JMB. Arora informed that Azharuddin was also working on the mission of implementing Sharia law in India with the aim of making it an Islamic nation.
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Earlier, Abu Talha, Md Mudassir, Ehshan, and Mufakkir were also arrested in the case leading to the exposure of the terror network. With Azharuddin's name coming to the fore, the ATS team launched a manhunt for him. Acting on a tip-off about Azharuddin's whereabouts, the agency reached Saharanpur and took him into custody on Dec 30. He was brought to the ATS headquarters in Lucknow, where he was arrested after questioning.