Kolkata: The Kolkata Police's special task force (STF) arrested a man identified as Abdul Rakib Qureshi from Madhya Pradesh for having suspected links with the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization on Monday. Qureshi is being brought to Kolkata on transit remand. The police were on his trail since they believed him to be the "controller" of two alleged IS terrorists arrested last week in West Bengal. Several other teams of Kolkata Police are en route to other states to nab other ISIS terrorists.
"Abdul Rakib was associated with the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)," Vivek Singh, SP Khandwa said adding that three cases including UAPA were registered against him out of which he has completed his sentence in two cases and is on bail in the third case.
According to police sources, Qureshi was the 'controller' of Mohammed Saddam, who was arrested last week from Howrah along with Syed Ahmed. Qureshi had inducted him into the IS. The Kolkata Police revealed that these terrorists had planned a major attack which is why they were collecting arms. A team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) officers on Monday grilled the two suspected terrorists at Kolkata Police's headquarters at Lalbazar to learn more about the duo's role, he said.
Last Friday evening, the STF detectives arrested the two alleged terrorists from Howrah's Tikiapara following inputs from central government agencies. The two, one of whom is an MTech engineering student and a resident of Tikiapara's Aftabuddin Munshi Lane, were in touch with IS functionaries in Pakistan and West Asia, police have claimed.
