‘Frequent visitors to India': ATS on Sri Lankan ISIS ‘terrorists’ arrested from Ahmedabad

Two of the four Sri Lankans arrested from Ahmedabad on May 20 for suspected ISIS links, had been to India “38 to 40 times,” the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) said on Wednesday.

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The ATS identified the accused as Mohamed Nusrath, Mohamed Nufran, Mohamed Rasdeen, and Mohamed Faris, the ATS stated, adding that Nusrath and Nafran used to visit India “frequently,” while the other two are first-timers.

“Their visits to India were also investigated. Nusrath and Nafran have been here 38 and 40 times respectively. These people are highly radicalised. They have shown their radical mindsets earlier too through other organisations,” Sunil Joshi, Superintendent of Police (SP), ATS, said at a press conference in Ahmedabad.

According to the officer, Nusrath was previously arrested in a gold smuggling case and a drugs case, while Nafran has admitted to involvement in drugs smuggling. On the other hand, Rasdeen has at least three drugs cases against him, and Faris also has drugs cases registered against him in the island nation, the SP stated.

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The suspects were held at Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International on Sunday, having arrived here from Sri Lanka via Chennai.

As per the ATS, which made the arrests, the group wanted to “teach a lesson” to the Jews, Christians, leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP's ideological mentor.

“The items recovered from them are evidence that shows their commitment to join the ISIS, follow the path shown by Abu Bakr Baghdadi, and teach a lesson to the attackers who commit atrocities against the Muslim community, as well as to Jews, Christians, and members of the BJP-RSS,” the ATS noted.

(With ANI inputs)