Azamgarh youth planning to carry out I-Day blast arrested: UP ATS

“During our initial probe, it has come to light that Sabahuddin was in touch with IS recruiter Abu Umar, who was giving him (Sabahuddin) training to prepare hand grenades, bombs and IEDs through social media. They were also allegedly planning to build a mujahideen organisation to establish an Islamic state in India. Their aim was to establish Islamic rule and introduce Shariah law in the country,” said an ATS officer, adding that he has been brought to Lucknow for further questioning.

“We found evidence that Sabahuddin was linked to Telegram channel, AL-SAQR media, which is used by the IS to brainwash Muslim youth for terror and jihad,” the ATS said in a press note. “During questioning, Sabahuddin said that he came in contact with one Bilal through Facebook and they used to talk about jihad and alleged atrocities being done on Kashmiri mujahideen. Bilal gave Sabahuddin the telephone number of IS member Musa alias Khatab Kashmiri. Sabahuddin then started speaking with Musa and they started planning to take revenge. Musa gave Sabahuddin the telephone number of another IS member, Abu Bakar Al Shami, who is settled in Syria,” stated the pressnote.

“After getting in touch with Abu Bakar, Sabahuddin started planning to form an Islamic organisation… Abu Bakar told Sabahuddin about the techniques and ingredients used for making IEDs. Later, Abu Bakar connected Sabahuddin with IS recruiter Abu Umar,” the ATS added. The ATS claimed that Sabahuddin was also planning to target RSS members and was trying to enter the outfit’s network. “The accused had created an email ID and a Facebook account with the name of RSS in it,” said the officer.

The ATS also claimed that Sabahuddin was currently a member of AIMIM. Shaukat Ali, the UP unit president of AIMIM, however, denied the ATS claim, saying that Sabahuddin was not a member of their political outfit.

“Sabahuddin Azmi alias Sabahu alias Dilawar Khan alias Baram Khan alias Azar has been booked on various charges, including waging or attempting to wage a war against the Government of India… Police have invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Arms Act against him,” an ATS officer.

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“We will seek his custody to question him about his motive. He was found to be associated with illegal activities for the last two years,” Additional Director General (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said.

According to the ATS sources, they recently came to know that a man in Azamgarh was spreading Jihad ideology with the help of his associates through different social media platforms.