UP ATS arrests Kashmiri youth ‘linked to Bareilly man held for terror’

The ATS obtained Wani’s transit remand to bring him to Lucknow after he produced before a local court of Ramban on Sunday, said Additional Director General, ATS, DK Thakur.

Wani is likely to reach Lucknow by late on Monday evening.

Thakur said police have booked Wani in the same case for which Bareilly’s Inamul Haq was arrested on Thursday. Haq is in police custody for 10 days, the ADG said.

He added that Wani was in regular touch with Haq since 2016 through messaging applications WhatsApp and Telegram.

“Wani’s activities were similar to that of Haq. They had planned for a meeting in Delhi in February this year, but due to some reason, it could not take place,” said Thakur.

Police said that, in the proposed meeting, they also called people known to them and instigated them for jihad.

They called off the meeting at the last moment after learning about heavy police deployment due to anti-CAA/NRC protests.

“We are still trying to identify people who were influenced by them,” said a police officer adding that Wani’s father is a retired government employee.

Thakur added that Wani joined an institute in Baghpat to pursue a diploma course of assistant electrician in 2019 and returned home after lockdown.

“Wani used to stay at the institute’s hostel,” said Thakur, adding that the accused was formerly addicted to drugs.

Police had earlier said that Haq is highly radicalised and claimed to have recovered literature released by banned Al Qaeda from his cellphone. He used to instigate people through social media and promise them to arrange arms training for them, police had said.