Two brothers were arrested in Gujarat on February 25 for their alleged links to ISIS
Two men arrested from Rajkot and Bhavnagar in Gujarat for alleged links with the ISIS have been sent to 12-day police custody. The Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) counsel told the court that the two men have confessed to being in touch with ISIS handlers and planning terror attacks.
The brothers - Wasim Arif Ramodia and Nayim Arif Ramodia - appear to be well educated, with one of them holding a masters' degree in computer application, were arrested late on Saturday night. The brothers were planning to attack a religious place, said senior police officer told NDTV on Sunday.
According to officials of the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), the brothers were under surveillance for over a year now. Their radicalisation process had started two years ago and they used to chat with their handlers using secured apps.
Their father, Arif Ramodia, who retired from the Saurashtra University three years ago said: "I have no idea about these alleged activities... I don't know if the allegations are true or false. My images of all these years taken a beating."
The ATS counsel said that they have admitted to have learnt bomb-making techniques through literature made available to them by ISIS handlers. The counsel told the court that to ascertain more linkages of the two accused with local contacts their custodial interrogation was necessary. The ATS was also trying to find out if the two were in touch with any sleeper cells in the country.
"The two were in touch with their ISIS handlers through Facebook, Twitter and other social media handles. We have seized their computers and lots of incriminating documents,'' senior officer KK Patel said on Saturday. The squad also seized gunpowder and explosive making material from their residences.
This is the first time anyone having links to ISIS has been arrested in Gujarat, the investigators said. In the earlier cases, the people had been indoctrinated by ISIS videos uploaded online or the speeches of its leader founder Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, and had no definite links with the jihadi group, they added.