After the arrest of Ramesh Shah, mastermind of Gorakhpur terror funding, police is tightening noose around his accomplices. Shah was arrested from Pune in a joint operation by the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra on Tuesday. He will be brought to Lucknow for further interrogation.
After the arrest of Shah who hails from eastern UP district of Gorakhpur, ATS believes that names of more people involved in terror funding will come to light. According to IG Aseem Arun, there are few more traders from Gorakhpur who work for Shah and are on the ATS radar. However, he did not divulge any names. Till a few years ago, Shah was a small vegetable vendor in Gorakhpur. But over the last three years he became a big trader and even opened a family store—Satyam Shopping Mart. According to the police, his fortunes grew after he came in touch with persons across the border.
The officials claim that he had been funding stone-pelters in Kashmir. According to Gorakhpur police, Shah has been jailed earlier for possessing drugs. It is learnt that recently he purchased land worth Rs 50 lakh in Vivek Nagar, Gorakhpur.
Shah's arrest revealed that those involved in terror funding are active in Kanpur too. Shah had come to Kanpur last year to meet some people. He had also obtained a SIM card which was used to make calls to various places in Pakistan.