The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad said on Sunday it had arrested three men with “terrorist links”, including a doctor with a Chinese medicine degree, who were allegedly trying to produce ricin, a deadly toxin on international chemical and biological weapons lists.
A senior ATS officer said on Sunday that they had scouted several sensitive locations in Lucknow, Delhi and Ahmedabad to carry out a “terrorist attack in the country”.
The Narcotics Control Agency said that three pistols, 30 live bullets and about 4 liters of castor oil were recovered from the possession of the accused.
The three arrested accused have been identified as Dr. Ahmed Mohiuddin Syed, 35, a resident of Hyderabad, Telangana; Azad Sulaiman Sheikh, (20), a tailor from Shamli, Uttar Pradesh; Muhammad Sohail Muhammad Saleem Khan, 23, a student and resident of Lakhimpur Khiri in Uttar Pradesh.
“MP SL Chaudhary received confidential information that a person named Ahmed Mohiuddin Syed from Hyderabad was involved in a plot to carry out a terrorist attack in India and that he had arrived in Ahmedabad as part of the implementation of the plot,” Deputy Inspector General Sunil Joshi said in a press conference.
“A team under the command of ATS SP K Siddharth, based on technical analysis, intercepted a silver Ford Figo near Adalaj Toll Plaza on Ahmedabad-Mehsana Road. Upon examining the vehicle driven by Saeed, the team found two Glock pistols, one Beretta pistol, 30 live rounds, and about 4 liters of castor oil stored in a 10-litre plastic container,” the statement said.
According to Joshi, Saeed “revealed” during interrogation that he was “actively involved in the plan to carry out a terrorist attack.”
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“He allegedly obtained the arms cache from an abandoned place (dead spot) near Kalol (Gujarat). According to Sayed, his handler is a person named Abu Khadija, who is based in Afghanistan and associated with ISKP (Islamic State Khorasan). In addition, Saeed was in touch with several individuals from Pakistan.”
Joshi added: “Saeed was preparing a highly lethal poison called ‘Ricin’. For this purpose, he had already started the necessary research, purchased equipment and raw materials, and started the initial chemical treatment necessary to prepare it. It was also found that this person had obtained a ‘MBBS degree’ from China.”
Based on forensic examination of the digital devices in Saeed’s possession, a team under the leadership of DySPs KP Patel and VK Parmar arrested two more persons – Shaikh and Saleem from Uttar Pradesh – who allegedly provided the bag containing pistols and cartridges to Saeed and helped in the anti-national activities from Banaskantha (Gujarat), the anti-narcotics agency said.
“Both the persons were found to be harboring extremist ideology. These two persons were found to have obtained a cache of arms from Hanumangarh, Rajasthan. During initial interrogation, it was found that they had conducted reconnaissance of several sensitive locations in Lucknow, Delhi and Ahmedabad.”
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“When they were asked about the source of the weapons, they revealed that their handler was sending the arms shipment via drone across the Pakistani border,” Joshi said.
On November 8, the three persons and the wanted accused Abu Khadija were booked under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act and Arms Act.
Saeed was produced before the court, which sent him to police custody until November 17. The Gujarat ATS said further investigations are underway to identify and arrest more individuals involved in the conspiracy.
What is ricin?
Ricin, extracted from castor beans (Ricinusommunis), is highly toxic to humans even in small doses. Absorption of ricin through the skin is poor and there are difficulties in effective dispersal mechanisms due to the reaction of the substance with heat. However, according to reports, it was used as an assassination tool. According to new reports, letters filled with the toxic powder were allegedly sent to two US presidents – Barack Obama in 2013 and Donald Trump in 2020. However, they were reportedly successfully intercepted at the mail sorting stage. Ricin is classified as a Category II chemical weapon that has been used in targeted assassinations but has never been used in a large-scale attack by a state or terrorist entity.
(tags for translation)Gujarat ATS
