Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: A suspected terrorist with links to the dreaded Al-Qaeda terror outfit was arrested from Jagatpur on the outskirts of Cuttack Wednesday in a joint raid by officials from Commissionerate Police and Delhi Police.
Mohammed Abdur Rehman (37) was arrested in the wee hours of Wednesday from Paschimakachha village in Jagatpur tehsil after a team from Delhi Police had flown in the day before, police commissioner RP Sharma told mediapersons later in the day.
Rehman, a father of three, is suspected to have links not just to Al-Qaeda but also to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Sharma said, adding that it is possible that Rehman has links to terror outfits in countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the UAE.
A case was registered by Delhi Police against Rehman earlier for recruiting members for Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). Delhi Police managed to track his links to AQIS through his call records, Sharma said.
The accused visited Saudi Arabia at least twice and lived in Dubai briefly, the commissioner informed. “The accused has bases in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bangalore, and Karnataka,” Sharma told a packed hall of mediapersons at the CP headquarters in the city.
“A mobile phone, a tablet and a passport have been seized from Rehman,” Sharma added.
Rehman attended a madrassa in his childhood and holds a PhD from Deoband University in Uttar Pradesh. He was said to be running a seminary in Tangi of Cuttack district where he taught students who hailed mostly from Jharkhand. The seminary has at least 75 students.
“It is suspected that Rehman worked as a facilitator and an organiser for Al-Qaeda and IS, and was recruiting for the terrorist organisations,” the commissioner said.
Rehman’s brother Tahir Ali was
arrested in 2001 for playing a key role in an attack on the American Culture Centre in Kolkata in January that year which claimed five lives and injured 20. Four police constables and a private security guard were killed in the attack by Islamic militants.
Sharma said the police are investigating if Rehman has links to Pakistan’s ISI spy-ring that was recently busted by the crime branch of Delhi Police.
Rehman was produced in court in Salipur Wednesday and the Delhi Police sought permission to take Rehman on a transit remand for three days to the national capital. However, the court granted remand only for two days.
Sources said Rehman was on the radar of intelligence agencies ever since he began delivering hate speeches in parts of Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
