In May, the ATS busted an Al-Qaeda module and arrested four Bangladeshis who were living illegally in Ahmedabad

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested three people from Rajkot for their alleged links with terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda , officials said on Tuesday.

The arrests were made after an ATS team acted on a tip-off and closely monitored the suspects for several days. The artisans from West Bengal, working in the city’s jewellery-making industry, were allegedly in contact with a handler based in Bangladesh, who directed them to execute various tasks, including radicalising people to join their outfit, officials said.

The ATS team picked them up for questioning on Monday night, superintendent of police Om Prakash Jat told reporters.

“Shukra Ali, Shaif Nawaz, and Aman Malik were detained and arrested. Nawaz has been in Rajkot for the last two years, while the other two have been here for the last seven to eight months. While the first two are from Bardhaman district in West Bengal, the third is from Hooghly,” Jat said.

A country-made semi-automatic pistol, live cartridges, radical literature, videos, and other materials were recovered from the terror suspects, he said.

“A country-made semi-automatic pistol, 10 rounds of cartridges, five mobile phones with radical materials, encrypted messaging app, and other free messaging app and materials on how to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons were all recovered from the accused and the materials have been sent for forensic examination,” the official said.

Authorities are currently investigating financial transactions and mobile phones to track the extent of their association with the terrorist organisation. The trio used highly-encrypted messaging apps to keep in touch with their handler, the official said.

Their interrogation revealed that Malik has been using the Telegram app for the last one year to keep in touch with a foreign handler, who was the head of Al-Qaeda in Bangladesh, the official said, adding that Malik was entrusted with the task of radicalising others to join the outfit, and used two messaging apps to receive radical literature, videos, and training on how to use automatic weapons.

Malik got in touch with Shukra Ali and Shaif Nawaz who shared the same mindset and agreed to work for the outfit, Jat said, adding that a probe is underway to find out who all had joined the accused and how the weapons had been procured.

The trio has been arrested under section 121 A (conspiring to overawe, by means of criminal force or the show of criminal force, the central government or state government) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Arms Act.

Earlier in May, the ATS busted an Al-Qaeda module and arrested four Bangladeshis who were living illegally in Ahmedabad.