Al Qaeda plot foiled: 4 terror suspects nabbed across 3 Indian cities with Pakistan ties

The Gujarat Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Wednesday (July 23) nabbed four men, aged 20 to 25, suspected of ties to Al Qaeda and planning attacks on major targets across India. The arrests took place in Gujarat, Delhi, and Noida; with two suspects caught in Gujarat and one each in Delhi and Noida.

The four men were identified as: Mohd Fardeen, Sefullah Kureshi, Zeeshan Ali, and Mohd Faiq. They were reportedly connected through a social media app. Authorities are digging deeper, and early investigations suggest the group had cross-border connections.

Al Qaeda strengthening presence in region

A recent UN report warned that Al Qaeda is strengthening its regional arm, Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), to expand its reach in places like Jammu and Kashmir, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

The 32nd report from the UN Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, released this week, stated, “one Member State assessed that Al-Qaeda is shaping AQIS (Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent) to spread its operations into neighbouring Bangladesh,” Jammu and Kashmir, and Myanmar.

The report estimates Al Qaeda has about 200 fighters in the region, led by emir Osama Mehmood.

It also noted, “The group uses Afghanistan as an ideological and logistical hub to mobilise and recruit new fighters while covertly rebuilding its external operations capability,” even though its ability to carry out large-scale attacks is currently limited, while its intent remains strong.

ATS DIG Sunil Joshi said they received information on June 10th that five accounts on Instagram were spreading ideologies of Al Qaeda in the country.

DIG Joshi said: “Gujarat ATS Dy SP Harsh Upadhyay received information on 10th June that there are 5 Instagram accounts which are propagating the ideologies of Al Qaeda in the country. They were sharing their content on a religious basis, against democracy, against India. The input was shared with senior officials. A technical team was formed…Total 4 accused were identified.”

“Of them, Fardeen Shaikh is r/o Ahmedabad, Mohd Faiq is r/o Delhi, Zeeshan Ali is r/o Noida and Saifullah Qureshi is r/o Modasa. All these 4 were monitored…It was found that not just their social media but also their physical movement is suspicious. A big team was formed…At the end of the operation, we were able to arrest all four suspects,” the officer said.

“We checked a lot of data on their phone. They were disseminating a lot of content of Al Qaeda across India…A sword and Al Qaeda material were seized from Fardeen. They formed different groups on Instagram and promoted terrorist ideologies, they created content for the implementation of Shariat instead of democracy in India. Mohd Faiq was in contact with a few Pakistani Instagram accounts which provided him material for jihadi activities…We have invoked Sections 13, 18 , 38, 39 of UAPA and Sections 113, 152, 196 and 68 of BNS and registered FIR. Saifullah and Fardeen were produced before the Court today and they have sent to 14-day remand,” he said.

“The remaining two accused will be produced before Court tomorrow…We have recovered documents on Operation Sindoor from Fardeen. Also, the posts they made at that time on Operation Sindoor were anti-Indian Govt, pro-Pakistani and instigating material on religious basis…”