Delhi, Orissa police arrest 2, bust Al Qaeda module

The Delhi police’s special cell on Wednesday claimed to have busted an Al Qaeda module with the arrest of its 41-year-old Indian head Mohammed Asif. Another suspect, identified as Abdul Rahman, 37, was arrested in a parallel operation by the Orissa police. While Asif was picked up from northeast Delhi’s Seelampur locality, Rahman was apprehended by a joint team of the Delhi police and Bhubaneswar-Cuttack commissionerate police from his house in Jagatpur area of Cuttack in Orissa.

The police said that Asif, who is believed to be one of the founding members and the Indian head (amir) of Al Qaeda in the Indian sub-continent (AQIS), floated by Ayman al Jawahiri, is the first ever detection of the module. The two have been booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, said special commissioner of police (special cell) Arvind Deep in Delhi.

The police recovered three mobile phones, a laptop and other “incriminating articles”, including documents of indoctrination and jihadi literature (authored by Maulana Umar) from Asif’s possession.

Rahman is suspected to have international links in countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Dubai. Rahman, who is married and has three children, ran a madrasa at Tangi area near Cuttack.

His brother Tahir Ali was arrested in 2001 in connection with the terrorist attack on the American Centre in Kolkata, the police said.

“In June 2013, Asif left Delhi, along with two other youths, for Tehran in Iran, where they met Qasim, who arranged tickets for Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran, from where they further headed towards the Iran-Pakistan border and crossed it over foot,” Mr Deep said.

“After reaching Pakistan, they continued their journey and crossed south Waziristan to reach Sumali in north Waziristan, where Asif met his long-emigrated Indian friend, Usman (code name Assad).”