The recent arrest of Abdullah by the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terror Squad (ATS) indicates that western UP is again becoming a safe haven for terrorists backed by Pakistan and Bangladesh. ATS claimed he is a terrorist and has association with Bangladesh’s terror outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), which is in active touch with many Pakistan-based terror outfits.
UP ATS had arrested Abdullah from Charthaval yesterday, and Inspector General Aseem Arun revealed that he had been staying there since 2011 under a fake identity and had plans to carry out terror activities in western UP and NCR on Independence Day.
Abdullah’s main task was to recruit youths for terror activities and prepare sleeper modules in the state by giving them a fake identity.
This is not for the first time that western UP is in the news for similar reasons. In the past, alleged terrorist have been caught from the districts of Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Meerut, Rampur and even Bareilly.
On July 10, Sandeep Sharma alias Adil was arrested from Kashmir. According to cops, he is a resident of Muzaffarnagar and has links with Lashkar-e-Taiba. A few months ago, cops arrested Aizaz, an alleged Pakistan spy from Meerut. Around the same time, police had arrested about a dozen suspected terrorists from different places in western UP.
Police arrested Firoz Manjhi and Kamraan, who were allegedly smuggling important military documents and supplying it to Pakistan.
In April this year, the ATS, in a joint operation with the special cell of the Delhi Police, CI cell Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra ATS and police force from Punjab and Bihar, held many youths from across the country, including Bijnor in western UP. According to the UP police, these youths were recruiting others to carry out terror activities and were a being backed by the ISI.
Sambhal district is also on the radar of the ATS and UP police as it is suspected that Sambhal has become a haven for many alleged members of the dreaded outfit Al Qaeda.
