The MP ATS arrested Faizan Sheikh in Khandwa, preventing a lone-wolf attack. He had a pistol, ammo, bomb tutorials, and ties with Indian Mujahideen, Yasin Bhatkal. Motivated by 2016 SIMI encounter, he conducted 14 recce mission
BHOPAL: A major terror plot was thwarted with the arrest of
Faizan Sheikh
by
Madhya Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad
(ATS) from Khandwa on July 4, sources told TOI, adding that pictures of senior security personnel were found on his phones.
The 34-year-old intended to carry out a
lone-wolf attack
and had acquired a
pistol
and ammunition for this, say police.
A mechanic by profession, he was teaching himself to make
bombs
through online resources, say officers. Forensic experts are trying to recover deleted data from his phone to understand his plans and motives.
Officers from National Investigation Agency (NIA) questioned Faizan over the past two days, and the agency is keen to take over the case. He has been booked under UAPA for being a member of a terrorist organisation and organizing terrorist camps, and is expected to be presented before a special court in Khandwa on Tuesday.
Faizan allegedly sought connections with the banned
Indian Mujahideen
(IM) terrorist organization, say sources. He was heavily influenced by
Yasin Bhatkal
, a co-founder of IM, and reportedly visited his village in Karnataka multiple times in the past few years.
Faizan was driven by a desire to 'avenge' the 2016 encounter deaths of eight SIMI suspects following a jailbreak in Bhopal, and has admitted to recceing Army locations in Kashmir (including Pathankot), Mumbai, and Delhi over the past three years, say sources. He conducted 14
recce
missions, say police, adding that examination of four phones seized from him shows repeated searches for videos of terrorist training camps and their operational methods.
For the past seven to eight months, Faizan had grown increasingly withdrawn. His family had distanced themselves from him following ideological differences. He stopped attending social activities and gatherings, but maintained contact with the families of the killed SIMI terrorists.
Following extended surveillance, ATS arrested Faizan from his Khandwa home on July 4. A search of his home revealed the pistol and ammo, a significant amount of jihadi literature linked to IM and ISIS, and a SIMI membership form, say police.
Authorities believe Faizan aspired to emulate notorious figures like Yasin Bhatkal of IM and SIMI's Abu Faisal. Investigators have found that was Faizan was trying to indoctrinate local children with extremist ideology
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