LUCKNOW: The local ATS court of Lucknow sent the two suspected operatives of Pakistan based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), arrested from a private hostel in Deoband, Saharanpur, on Friday, to 10-day police custody for interrogation on late Saturday evening.
The two terror suspects-Shanawaz Ahmad Teli of Kulgam and Aquib Ahmad Malik of Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir -- were brought from Saharanpur to Lucknow on a transit remand by the ATS on Saturday morning to get take them in custody for grilling.
However, they could not be produced in the local court owing to a huge protest by a rush of agitated lawyers at the gate and they were shouting anti-Pakistan, anti-Jaish slogans.
Even they reportedly tried to drag the suspects out of police vehicle. Consequently, the ATS took them back. Later in the day, the ATS team returned with the two Jaish modules with more police reinforcement and got their 10-day custodial remand for further interrogation.
After the initial round of quizzing, the two suspects believably revealed that while being in Dar-ul-Uloom in Deoband as students, they were entrusted with radicalising potential recruits and convince them for joining the terror outfit. "But they denied having information about the fidayeen attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama on February 14," said a source in ATS.
However, they reportedly knew Adil Ahmad Dar, the suicide bomber who attacked CRPF convoy in Pulwama. Even they knew the Pulwama attack mastermind Kamran alias Rashid Ghazi.
Moreover, the two were suspected to be hiding explosives and firearms in Kashmir, said UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officials. They added that the recovery of the ammunition could be made on the basis of the inputs shared by the two ultras.
The ATS source claimed that both the suspects would be taken to their home state and Delhi as well for further interrogation. Notably, two 0.32 bore pistols recovered from the accused were of good quality and suspected to have been supplied from across the border.
Even 30 live cartridges, jehadi literature, video clips and films were also recovered from the place where the two were staying. On the other, Dar-ul-Uloom, the biggest seminary of Islamic education in Asia, has closed its doors on Kashmiri students after the arrest of suspected Jaish ultras on Friday.
Rattled by midnight raids of UP ATS, the Islamic seminary has decided not to rent out accommodation to Kashmiris anymore.
In fact, many house owners in the area rent out their property as a hostel to outstation students enrolled in the seminary and the madrasas affiliated to it.
Significantly, the two Jaish suspects held on Friday were also putting up illegally in such a hostel faking to be the students of Dar-ul-Uloom.