AHMEDABAD : The four Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists who were arrested in Ahmedabad had visited India 38-40 times at frequent intervals, an official said on Wednesday.
Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Superintendent of Police, Sunil Joshi, said that while investigation, the accused were found with criminal history, including involvement in drugs smuggling.
“Four ISIS terrorists have been arrested. The primary investigation has revealed their criminal history,” he said while addressing a press conference on Wednesday.
“Mohamed Nusrath was earlier held in a gold smuggling case and drugs case. The second accused also has drugs cases registered against him in Sri Lanka. Accused Rasdeen has at least three drug cases against him. No specific case has been found against accused Nafraan, but he has admitted to involvement in drug smuggling,” he further said.
The four accused were arrested at Ahmedabad Airport on May 20.
They have been identified as Mohamed Nusrath, Mohamed Faris, Mohamed Rasdeen, and Mohamed Nafran. All four are citizens and residents of Sri Lanka, the ATS stated earlier.
The ATS SP further said that two of the four accused visited India for the first time, while the other two used to visit frequently. He also said the arrested accused are “highly radicalized.”
“Their visits to India were also investigated. Faris and Razdeen have come to India for the first time, but Nusrath and Nafran have visited India 38 and 40 times respectively. These were very frequent visits,” the ATS SP said.
“These people are highly radicalized. They have shown their radical mindset earlier too through other organizations,” he added.
Earlier, the Gujarat ATS said that the arrested ISIS terrorists wanted to “teach a lesson” to Jews, Christians, and members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The Gujarat ATS said that, as per the examination of the recovered items from the four ISIS terrorists from Sri Lanka, there is evidence showing their commitment to “join the proscribed terrorist organization Islamic State (IS), 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.” (ANI)