The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested two suspected terrorists, both Pakistani nationals, from near the Gorakhpur railway station late on Wednesday. They have been identified as Abdul Waleed alias Murtaza and Faheem alias Mohammad Owais, residents of Karachi.
According to the State IG (Law and Order) Amrendra Kumar Sengar, the two were in touch with Indian Mujahideen operatives in the country. Mr. Sengar said the two terrorists had undergone training at a camp of the Tehreek-e-Taliban (Afghanistan). Primary interrogation revealed that they did not have a political target on their radar, Mr. Sengar said, adding that they were commissioned by Pakistan-based IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal through a local contact to carry out attacks on an unarmed force at an undisclosed location in eastern Uttar Pradesh with AK-47 rifles and pistols.
Abdul Waleed and Faheem were presented in a Lucknow court on Thursday. Mr. Sengar told reporters that the ATS was trying to interrogate them further following police custody remand. Two AK-47 rifles and 70 cartridges, two 30-bore Chinese pistols, Indian and Nepalese SIM cards, two Indian voter ID cards and cash were among the items seized from them.
The U.P. police official said they had entered Gorakhpur from Nepal on Wednesday and were handed over the consignment of arms and ammunition by a local contact at a place designated by Riyaz Bhatkal. “They were nabbed by the ATS from a gate near the Gorakhpur railway station when they were going to meet another person,” Mr. Sengar said
