The arrest of three men for ties to the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISKP) has revealed a deadly conspiracy and intricate network, according to the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). A senior official informed that two of the accused from Uttar Pradesh had scouted various religious and organisational buildings, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) offices in Ahmedabad, Delhi and Lucknow to evaluate crowd patterns and security arrangements, based on digital and human surveillance.
20-year-old tailor Azad Suleman Sheikh from Shamli and 23-year-old student Mohammad Suhail Mohammad Saleem Khan from Lakhimpur Kheri were apprehended from the state. 35-year-old Dr Ahmed Mohiyuddin Saiyed is originally from Telangana’s Khammam, and his family resides in Hyderabad.
Recce at RSS offices and crowded markets across three states
According to sources in the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS), they conducted reconnaissance on the RSS office in Lucknow, the Agriculture Produce Market Committee in Azadpur of Delhi and the fruit market in Naroda, Ahmedabad, during the past six months, reported The Indian Express. Azadpur Mandi is Asia’s biggest wholesale fruit and vegetable market.
“The two (UP) men were radicalised, and had been in contact with a Pakistani agent for the past one-and-a-half years. On instructions of this handler, these two accused did a recce of three locations – the RSS office in Lucknow, and the mandis in Azadpur and Naroda. The latter two because they are crowded areas,” an officer disclosed.
An official remarked, “We have come to know that they were planning to launch attacks on RSS offices and other places of religious importance. Although no specific target was finalised, they were gathering details of several sites.”
Ricin extraction plot uncovered, ATS seizes firearms and castor oil
Police suspected the three aimed to employ the chemical agent “ricin” when they were found in possession of approximately four litres of castor oil, three firearms and thirty-five live bullets. The investigators stated that what the three intended to do with the ricin is “still being investigated.” Earlier this month, the castor oil was taken from Saiyed’s vehicle near the toll booth on the Ahmedabad-Mehsana route at Adalaj in Gandhinagar.
The ATS mentioned, “The accused told us they were trying to extract Ricin from castor beans. They were still processing it, so we cannot comment on how they would have used it.”
An official responded, “We are yet to recover all the things from the workshop and can’t divulge the details at this stage of the probe. However, we do have evidence in the form of what materials he procured and from where, his search history in ChatGPT and the search engine, and so on,” regarding the “workshop” where Saiyed was attempting to extract Ricin and other evidence the ATS had gathered, which resulted in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against the trio.
“Dr Ahmed Mohiyuddin Saiyed is highly educated and radicalised, and had planned to collect funds and recruit persons as part of a conspiracy to carry out major terrorist activities,” he conveyed.
“To execute a major terrorist attack, Ahmed Mohiyuddin Saiyed had been preparing a highly lethal poison named ‘Ryzin’ (Ricin). For this purpose, he had begun necessary research, procured equipment, raw materials, and initiated the initial chemical processing required for its preparation. It was found this individual had obtained an MBBS degree from China,” Deputy Inspector General of the ATS, Sunil Joshi, previously expressed.
Afghan handler and ISKP links traced through digital evidence
The ATS highlighted that Saiyed told them that his handler was an Afghan man named Abu Khadija who was connected to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP).
According to the agency, Saiyed, the primary accused, produced a large amount of ricin and was awaiting orders from his handlers in Pakistan to use it in a terror attack that would result in mass casualties. He was influenced by ISKP’s internet propaganda, spoke many languages and studied medicine in China. It has come to light that Saiyed ran a restaurant where he kept castor seeds, which he later utilised to produce ricin.
Following a tip, an ATS squad apprehended Saiyed in the vicinity of Adalaj in Gandhinagar with two Glock handguns, a Beretta handgun, thirty live rounds, and four litres of castor oil. According to ATS officials, additional research is to find potential local connections, track down financing sources, and locate more individuals connected to the module.
The ATS and central authorities are currently examining confiscated material and electronic data. They want to identify the source of chemicals and ascertain whether any ricin experimental preparation had started. Initial interrogation revealed that they were a part of a wider Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-affiliated network that included other sleeper cells working in different states.