Gujarat ATS arrests two home-grown suspected terrorists

Ahmedabad, Feb 26: The Anti-Terrorists Squad of Gujarat Police on Sunday said it had arrested two brothers who, it claimed, were home-grown terrorists believed to be working for Pakistan’s ISI. Police said as per the initial information, accused Waseem Ramodiya and eem Ramodiya were preparing for a terror strike at a temple atop a hill in Chotila in Surendragar district, 55 km from Rajkot.

The ATS said 98 gm gunpowder, two face masks, battery used for making bombs and about a dozen wicks made of jute thread were seized from the accused, apart from eight issues of Islamic State magazine “Dabik”, believed to be the organisation’s mouthpiece.

Stored on two seized laptops and mobile phones were techniques to make explosive devices and guerrilla warfare — as well as lone-wolf attack — tactics, the ATS said adding that other “objectioble literature” was found stored on the computers.

ATS Deputy Superintendent of Police K.K. Patel said: “Acting on specific information, the Gujarat ATS team picked up the two suspected terrorists with IS links.”

He said the two brothers were under ATS surveillance for the last one-and-half years after it was found that they were allegedly in touch with the IS through Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Patel said police decided on Saturday night to arrest the two after they came to know that they planned to strike “in a day or two” at the Chotila temple where thousands of devotees visit daily. The famous Somth and Dwarkadhish temples in the Saurashtra region were also on their radar and the accused had already done a recce of the two famous Hindu pilgrimage spots. (IANS)