Arrested IS Men Had Plans to Attack BJP, RSS Leaders: Intelligence Bureau

NEW DELHI:  A group of alleged terrorists arrested in Madhya Pradesh recently had plans to target RSS and BJP leaders outside the state, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) told Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.    

According to intelligence input, the group was in touch with Shafi Armar alias Yusuf Al Hindi who hails from the coastal town of Bhatkal in Karnataka and said to be working for global terror outfit IS, responsible for its online terror propaganda.

It was the Intelligence Bureau’s alert which led to the arrest of Imran Khan, Waseem, Rizwan and Anwar Qureshi, all residents of Ratlam, who were radicalised over the internet during last one year by “Yusuf”.

IB said the group of alleged terrorists from Madhya Pradesh was “being persuaded to carry out terrorist strikes in India by targeting police officers, BJP and  RSS leaders outside Madhya Pradesh.”

Yusuf, IB said, was guiding this group through cyber chat.

“While correct identity of Yusuf is not yet fully established, he is suspected to be either Sultan Armar or Shafi Armar (both brothers, residents of Bhatkal in Karnataka), who were active members of Indian Mujahideen and had escaped to Karachi in 2009-2010,” the IB input suggested.

Sultan Armar alias Mulla said to have been killed in Kobane in March while fighting with IS.

The Intelligence agency also pointed out that the arrested IM terrorist Yasin Bhatkal had told the interrogators that sometime in May 2013, Shafi Armar  wanted to go to Syria to join al-Qaeda following a rift in Indian Mujahideen.

An IM terror module Afeef during a chat with Yasin Bhatkal on May 22, 2013 told about the internal rifts.

“Afeef mentioned that Iqbal Bhatkal (one of the founders of IM) had asked Shafi Armar( younger brother of Sultan Armar) whether he was ready to go to Syria....Farhan, Sultan, Shafi and Salim Ishaqi were also demanding to send them to the battle field in Afghanistan to work with al-Qaeda.”