The Uttar Pradesh Police claimed that Gorakhpur Temple attack accused Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi was in touch with ISIS sympathisers and fighters and was preparing to carry out a “big incident” after snatching weapons from security personnel on April 3. An IIT-Bombay graduate, Murtaza (29) allegedly attacked police and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel deployed at the temple with a sharp-edged weapon while trying to forcibly enter the shrine, whose head priest is Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Three security personnel were injured in the attack. Murtaza’s father Muneer Ahmed had maintained that his son was under depression. “In a typical ISIS manner, the accused in lone wolf attack style attacked the security personnel at the Shri Gorakhnath temple. His main intention behind this attack was to execute some bigger incident using the snatched weapon,” said Additional Director General (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar in a press release. On the state government's order, the state police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) is investigating the case. The agency had invoked different sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against Murtaza. The police claimed to have recovered several electronic devices at the instance of Murtaza. They scrutinized his social media accounts besides checking his bank accounts, e-wallets and financial transactions. “With the evidences collected so far, it has come to light that Murtaza was in touch with ISIS sympathizers and fighters. He was also in touch with ISIS propaganda activist Mehdi Masroor Biswas through social media,” said Prashant Kumar. Mehdi Masroor, an electrical engineer from West Bengal, was arrested in December 2014 in Bangalore. The police claimed that Murtaza was under the influence of radical preachers of various terrorist organisations and was also impressed with Jihadi literature and ideology that support ISIS. Newsletter | Click to get the day's best explainers in your inbox “It has also came to light during investigation that accused took a vow of terrorist organization Ansar-ul-Tawhid on a social media platform in 2013. The terrorist organisation in 2014 merged with the ISIS. The accused again took vow of ISIS in 2020,” added Kumar. Murtaza had sent money to the ISIS to help them carry out their activities, the police said. “During scrutiny of his bank accounts, it emerged that he sent Rs 8.5 lakh to to ISIS supporters in different countries of Europe and America. To execute terror activities, he used to read online articles and watch videos on the internet related to weapons like AK-47 rifle, M4 carbine and missile technology,” Kumar said.
