A suspected terrorist – who planned to detonate at least two hand grenades at the Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya – was arrested Sunday night by a team of Gujarat and Haryana cops.
The suspect has been identified as Abdul Rehman, 19, from UP’s Faizabad.
Sources told NDTV Rehman – who ran a meat shop and drove an auto rickshaw, possibly as part of his cover identity – had been prepped by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence.
He was arrested after a Haryana Special Task Force filed a police complaint. Hours later he was produced in a local court and sent to police custody for 10 days.
Sources said Pakistan’s ISI had been planning this attack for some time. Rehman – who is believed to have links with several jamaats, or Islamic assemblies – also reportedly did several rounds of reconnaissance around the Ram Temple, which was consecrated in January last year.
Information gathered from these missions were shared with the ISI, sources said.
Sources further said Rehman had planned to meet his handler in Faridabad in Haryana and take possession of two hand grenades, which he would take with him to Ayodhya by train.
However, the Haryana STF and a team from Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad, based on inputs from central security agencies, acted promptly to track him down and take him into custody.
Two hand grenades were recovered. Rehman had hidden these in an abandoned house near Pali village, which is around 12 km from Faridabad. Both have been defused.
After this the ATS team took him to Gujarat, where he will be interrogated.
Sources also said the ATS’ operation in this case is ongoing, suggesting there may be other terrorists or terror cells that are still active.
With input from agencies
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