Bengaluru terrorist arrest case: Mastermind in Afghanistan, has LeT connections

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

Bengaluru, July 20, 2023: After the arrest of five suspected terrorists in Bengaluru, who had planned to carry out subversive activities in the IT city, the preliminary investigations have revealed that the mastermind Mohammad Junaid was operating from Afghanistan and had Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) connections, sources said on Thursday.

 

Mohammad Junaid, a sheep trader from Sultanpalya in Hebbal locality of Bengaluru was in direct contact with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists. Junaid had made use of the terror network and had crossed the Indian borders in 2021. Presently, he is operating from near Afghan borders and sending instructions to his associates in Bengaluru, sources explained.

The officers have already given information about Junaid to Interpol.

The probe has also revealed that LeT terror suspect in Bengaluru serial bomb blast case, Nasir, who is presently lodged in Bengaluru Central Prison, was in touch with Junaid.

Considering the seriousness of the case, the Karnataka Police are contemplating to hand over the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Junaid was forced to become semi-naked and assaulted in front of his wife at his residence over financial matters by one Noor Ahmad. In 2017, September 30, Junaid kidnapped him and hacked him to death. The police had arrested 21 persons in connection with the murder. When Junaid came out of the jail, he was brainwashed and turned into a ‘jihadi’, police said.

He was later arrested in connection with illegal transportation of red sanders. However, after obtaining bail in this case, he left the country in 2021. The Bengaluru Central City Crime Branch (CCB) is gathering more information about him and sources said that “if not for the arrests, this group could have carried out deadliest attacks in Bengaluru".

The CCB wing had arrested Syed Suhail Khan, Mohammad Faizal Rabbani, Mohammad Umar, Muddassir Pasha and Zahid Tabrez on Wednesday and seized a large cache of explosives, weapons and equipment.