UP ATS arrests: Faizan came under radar after Islamic scholar’s arrest last year

The residential complex from where the youth was arrested. (Source: Express Photo/Deepak Joshi)

Faizan alias Mufti, one of the four terror suspects arrested by the UP ATS on Thursday, had been under the scanner of national security agencies ever since Delhi-based Islamic scholar Mufti Abdus Sami Qasmi was arrested from Hardoi on February 6 last year. During questioning, Qasmi had reportedly claimed that Faizan — a resident of Bijnor — used to meet him frequently. Qasmi was arrested by the NIA for allegedly delivering provocative and inflammatory speeches and instigating youths towards anti-national activities.

They had reportedly met first when Qasmi had gone to Bijnor in December 2015 to attend a religious event. After that, an ATS official said, Faizan met him several times until Qasmi’s arrest. “While keeping a watch on Faizan, we came to know about this group planning some terror activity,” the ATS official said. “The agencies were tracking phones of the suspects, (and) by intercepting calls, we came to know that they were planning to target another sect of the Muslim community. The group had paid advance to buy pistols and explosives from a person in Bijnor.”

The official said the group also held a meeting last month at the residence of Zeeshan, alias Ghazi Baba, in Jalandhar to chalk out their plan. “The group used to speak regularly on WhatsApp,” he said, adding that the agency will seek custody of the four accused. Meanwhile, the six suspects — five from Bijnor and one from Shamli — who were detained by the ATS for questioning on Thursday have been released.

In a joint operation with the police of five states, the ATS on Thursday had arrested four suspects on charges of indulging in anti-national activities. They are alleged group leader Umar (alias Nazim Shamshad), Zeeshan (alias Ghazi Baba alias Muzammil), Faizan (alias Mufti), and Ahtesham (alias S K alias Pintoo).