Surat: The Surat Crime Branch and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) conducted a joint operation on Monday, resulting in the arrest of another Bangladeshi national in Surat. The accused is suspected to have links with Al-Qaeda.

The initial investigation indicates that this suspect belongs to a different Al-Qaeda module than those arrested in Ahmedabad on May 21. However, the handler of the previously arrested individual and the newly captured suspect are the same. It has been learned that the accused receives instructions from handlers named Shariful Islam and Shayba, who are district chiefs of a terrorist organisation in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district.

The latest arrest has prompted multiple intelligence and security agencies to be alerted. They will soon arrive to further interrogate the suspect. A senior police officer states that preliminary information suggests that the Al-Qaeda Bangladesh module operates independently and is allegedly infiltrating various Indian cities, raising funds, and radicalising young individuals for potential future attacks.

This arrest is another one in a series of apprehensions in a span of just fifty days. The authorities made their first breakthrough by capturing Bangladeshi nationals who were allegedly connected to Al-Qaeda. These individuals were suspected of engaging in fundraising activities to support Rohingya insurgent groups in Myanmar.

Following that, three individuals from Jammu and Kashmir, including Sumera Malik from Surat and another suspect named Tariq from Gorakhpur, were apprehended as part of the Islamic States of Khorasan Republic module.

Furthermore, Nilesh Baliya, a contract employee at the BSF in Bhuj who was allegedly spying for the ISI, was also arrested, marking another important development. DeshGujarat