Raipur:
A suspected Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative, who was allegedly involved in raising funds for the banned outfits, was arrested here today, the police said.
22-year-old Dheeraj Sao, who ran a roadside eatery in Transport Nagar area, was nabbed by a team of the Chhattisgarh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) based on specific inputs about his alleged links with terror modules, Inspector General of Police, Raipur Range, G P Singh said at a press conference here this evening.
After the arrest of 16 suspected SIMI activists from the state capital, the intelligence wing had been keeping an eye on suspects allegedly connected to those arrested, he said.
Meanwhile, a tip-off was received about the transfer of hefty amounts into bank accounts of suspected terrorists through bank accounts in different places including Chhattisgarh, he said.
Sao was picked up for interrogation and later arrested, he said.
According to the officer, Sao, a native of Jamui district of Bihar, allegedly acted as a mediator to send cash to IM and SIMI terrorists, which he admitted during interrogation.
Sao came in touch with one Khalid from Pakistan in 2011 and since then he had received huge amounts from different bank accounts, which were later deposited in the accounts of IM operatives Jubair Hussain and Ayesha Bano in Mangalore, through his own account, the IG said.
More than Rs 1 crore has been deposited in different accounts held by Sao, he said.
During the last two months, the Chhattisgarh police succeeded in busting an alleged terror module here with the arrest of 16 suspected SIMI activists.
Police had alleged Umer Siddhiqui (35) who was one among arrested SIMI activists, had planned the July 7 blasts at the Bodh Gaya temple complex in Bihar and also planned to attack
BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi during his rallies in Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The absconding culprit of Patna serial blasts Haider Ali alias Abdullah and others landed in Raipur from Rourkela after the incident, the police had alleged.
Allegedly, Siddhiqui and his associates had put them up in a rented house in the Sanjay Nagar area.
The other arrested were Abdul Wahid (75), Roshan alias Javed (35), Abdul Aziz (45), Azizullah (38), Hayat Khan (45), Moinuddin (37), Sheikh Habibullah (34), Dawood Barri Khan alias Babloo (38), Mohammed Aslam Latif Khan (28), Sheikh Subhan Usman (48), Mohammed Azharuddin (19), Mohammed Syed (50), Ammar Bin Wahid (19) and Salim Ahmed (43).
Umer and Azharuddin are in the custody of National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Patna, while others are lodged in Raipur Central Jail.