The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad on Thursday arrested a 31-year-old man for his alleged connections with the banned terrorist organisation Islamic State.
The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad on Thursday arrested a 31-year-old man for his alleged connections with the banned terrorist organisation Islamic State.
The man is said to have allegedly been in touch with a member of ISIS and was allegedly instructed to plot a terror strike in the state.
The arrested accused has been identified as Naser Bin Yafai Chaus (31). He is a resident of Parbhani district in the state and is said to have been living with his family. Chaus, who is a civil contractor by profession, was arrested on Thursday by the Aurangabad unit of the ATS.
Sources in the ATS revealed that earlier this year they received information that Chaus was frequently talking to an individual staying in Syria. Acting on the suspicion that the Syria resident could be an IS operative, the officials started investigating the matter.
“During our investigations, we learnt that about a year ago, Chaus had been visiting various websites which had IS-related content and had also started participating in conversations that happened on the discussion forums on the websites,” said an ATS officer, who did not wish to be named. He revealed that soon after, a man identified only as Farookh approached Chaus and they would chat almost daily.
While their conversations started nearly a year ago, Chaus was allegedly recruited into the ISIS about six months ago. “He was recruited by Farookh for ‘furthering the cause of the Universal Caliphate’,” said the officer.
Chaus had also been allegedly eager to head to Syria and be part of IS jihad programme, but was asked to stay put in the country.
He was allegedly asked to plan an attack in the country and regarding the same Farookh and Chaus had many conversations. “They discussed what terror strikes could be carried out inside the state and whether roping in others for the same cause and putting together a group was feasible,” said an officer.
After verifying and identifying Chaus, a team of ATS officials arrested Chaus from his house and also seized his computer and two cell phones. Officials said that the two communication devices were being analysed.
Officials added that they were also trying to trace the whereabouts of Farookh who is said to be in Syria.
