NEW DELHI: A 26-year-old man suspected to be an Islamic State sympathiser was arrested from the national capital on Thursday night. He is the fifth person to be arrested by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell in the past one month for suspected links with the terrorist group.
The accused, identified as Mohsin Abraham Sayeed, a resident of Malad in Mumbai, was arrested when he was about to board a Rohtak bus from the Inter-State Bus Terminal in Old Delhi’s Kashmere Gate.
“We arrested IS suspect Mohsin Abraham on a tip-off and recovered `85,000 from his possession,” Special Commissioner Arvind Deep told Express.
The accused was in touch with four IS suspects arrested on January 19 in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar district and was financing and facilitating them to leave India and join the Islamic State in Syria. The Special Cell arrested Akhlaq-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Osama alias Adil, Mohammad Azimu Shaan and Mehraj based on specific information from intelligence agencies on January 19 for planning to carry out bombings during the ongoing Ardh Kumbh pilgrimage in Haridwar.
“Sayeed had arranged for finances for the four arrested suspects and handed over `50,000 to Akhlaq-ur-Rehman. He has been booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act,” Deep said. He had given `50,000 to Akhlaq-ur-Rehman to arrange for his passport, visa and tickets to go to Syria. Sayeed had come to Delhi to meet one of his associates, whose name is withheld, and wanted to visit Rohtak in Haryana where he wanted to stay for some period before going to Syria.
Sayeed was radicalised online and he contacted some people through social networking sites. “Sayeed was made to go through some texts and speeches, after which he owed allegiance to IS,” the officer added.
Interestingly, Sayeed was also in touch with Mudabbir Shaikh, a resident of Mumbra -- around 35 km away from Mumbai, who was arrested by the NIA in coordination with the Maharahtra Anti-Terrorism Squad last month. The NIA and the ATS also carried out raids to nab Sayeed but he had gone into hiding.
Shaikh’s mobile phone and laptop, which has incriminating documents, were seized during the raid and from there the security agencies came to know about Sayeed’s involvement. Apart from that, Sayeed’s involvement was corroborated during Akhlaq’s interrogation.
Shaikh, a graduate with a diploma in computer software, was unemployed and used to spend most of his time at home. He was active on social media through which he got in touch with an IS handler.
11 remanded in 7-day NIA Custody
New Delhi: Eleven suspected IS operatives, who were arrested from across the country for allegedly recruiting and financing people to join the West Asain terror group, were on Friday remanded in seven days’ NIA custody by a city court. The accused, who had their faces covered, were produced before District Judge Amar Nath amid tight security and, according to lawyers who attended the in-camera proceedings, the NIA had sought a 10-day extension to their custodial interrogation. The NIA said in its remand application that the accused have disclosed during their interrogation “their involvement in this case about recruiting and financing persons willing to join the Caliphate of the IS in Syria”.