Maharashtra: Nine Arrested Suspects Were Planning Terror Strikes in State, Other Parts of Country, Says ATS

Nine suspects were arrested and a minor detained from Aurangabad and Mumbra for allegedly planning to carry out terror strikes.

Mumbai: The nine suspects arrested for their alleged IS leaning were actually planning an attack on some locations in Maharashtra and other parts of the country as well, said a report on Tuesday. (Also read: UP CM Yogi Adityanath Says, ‘Would’ve Eliminated Them on Border’)

A Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officer said nine suspects were arrested and a minor detained from Aurangabad and Mumbra for allegedly planning to carry out terror strikes. The choice of target was also being looked into, said a leading daily.

An officer who was part of the team which made the arrests said that security had been beefed up at vital installations. “We can say they were in the planning stage at the time of arrest.”

The ATS had been collecting information about the suspects and their activities with the help of technical surveillance since August 2018. The ATS got the first input from Mumbra, following which their connection to Aurangabad came up.

An officer said, “The targets identified by the suspects in these cities cannot be revealed at this stage.” The probe also reveals that the suspect from Mumbra was the first to get inspired by IS ideology and started roping in others. The officer they were verifying all the details they had got from the suspects. “The suspects may even try to mislead the investigation team. That’s why the ATS is cross-verifying every detail obtained from them and keeping every information under the wraps,” he said.

Around 20 teams of the state ATS carried out a series of raids in Aurangabad and Mumbra in Thane and arrested nine suspects, including a 17-year-old. These arrests were followed by another raid on Saturday in which a 24-year-old from Mumbra was arrested.