Mateen Hafeez TNN
Mumbai: A day after a terror suspect was killed and two SIMI operatives were arrested in Aurangabad, the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Tuesday arrested two more alleged SIMI operatives from Buldhana.
The two, Aqueel Khilji (45) and Mohammed Jafar Hussain Qureshi (32), were part of a sleeper cell and were looking to expand their network, ATS chief Rakesh Maria said. “Khilji is the head of the Madhya Pradesh unit of SIMI and the accused were hiding in Maharashtra to expand their network,” he said.
On Monday, the ATS team killed a 20-year-old terror suspect, Khalil Qureshi, in an encounter and arrested two of his associates, Mohammad Abrar (36) and Mohammad Shaker Hussain (20). “Khilji is the father of Hussain. All the accused belong to MP but due to tight police action, they had taken shelter in Maharashtra,” said an officer.
On Tuesday, the police recovered a 7.65 pistol, five live cartridges, a pen drive and ‘jihadi literature’ from Khilji. “After the arrest of Safdar Nagori and Abu Faisal, Khilji was taking care of the outfit’s operations and recruitment. He was involved in eight criminal cases, including five under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). While Qureshi is involved in a UAPA case and was granted bail, (he) never attended court and was missing. They will be produced before a Nagpur court on Wednesday,” the officer said.
“The accused had robbed 12kg gold from Manappuram gold finance company and sold 3 kg. Using Rs 15 lakh that it fetched, the accused bought a safe house in Jamshedpur for absconding operatives. They also tried to procure passport on this house address for new recruits,” said an officer.
State probing local link to terror
Mumbai: State home minister R R Patil said a probe was on to ascertain whether any local hand had been supporting the terrorist killed in the Aurangabad encounter. Opposition leader Eknath Khadse, while appreciating the team’s success, expressed concern over the presence of alleged IM terrorists in an urban area like Aurangabad. TNN
The Times of India, March 28, 2012
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