A Bangladeshi suspected by the police of being involved in terror activities in his country was arrested in the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
Abdullah-al-Mamon was nabbed by a team of the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of the U.P. police from the Kutesara area of Muzaffarnagar. The ATS claimed Abdullah was associated with the Ansarullah Bangla Team, an outfit under the scanner for the murders of atheists and ‘liberal bloggers’ in Bangladesh.
Inspector General of Police Aseem Arun said Abdullah would shelter “terrorists, especially those from Bangladesh”, and facilitate their stay here through fake documents and identity cards. Abdullah was himself living with fake Aadhaar and identity cards, police said.
“On primary questioning, Abdullah said that while living in Deoband, he would help terrorists, especially those from Bangladesh, to live safely in India by getting fake identity cards made for them,” Mr. Arun said.
Abdullah got the fake identity cards made through Faizan, another Bangladeshi living in Deoband, police said.
A native of Mymensingh district of Bangladesh, Abdullah lived in Deoband in Saharanpur for six years before moving to Muzaffarnagar a month ago.
Police recovered numerous fake items from Abdullah: a passport, an Aadhar card, 13 identity cards and four seals bearing the names of the village pradhan, village development officer, tehsildar and election officer.
The ATS also raided Faizan's rented apartment in Deoband but he was not found there.
A colour printer, bomb-making manual, literature on jihad in the Bangla language, and many fake identity cards, were recovered from his room during the search, an ATS spokesperson said.
Police suspect that Faizan may also be associated with the extremist Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).
The ATS team is conducting search operations in the Shamli, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur districts of west U.P. under the directions of the DIG Saharanpur.
Police is also questioning three others in the case.
