AHMEDABAD: Kasim Stimberwala and
Ubaid Mirza of Surat, who were arrested in October 2017 by the Gujarat’s ATS on suspicion of being IS operatives, had allegedly planned lone-wolf attacks on Jews near a synagogue and
Nariman House in Mumbai’s
Colaba area, sources in the
Gujarat ATS said.
ATS sources said the duo had also planned an attack on the Jewish community in Ahmedabad, at the
Magen Abraham synagogue in the Khamasa area of the city.
If the duo had been successful, it would have been the second terror attack around Nariman House, or Chabad House—the place attacked by LeT gunmen during the November 26, 2008 attack in Mumbai.
According to ATS officials, both the accused attempted to procure illegal firearms from about 10 places in Delhi, Lucknow, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Surat.
ATS officials said witnesses have also stated that Stimberwala and Mirza planned to store the illegal firearms at Surat.
Sources said the agency will in a few days submit a 1,500-plus page chargesheet in a Ankleshwar court. ATS has recorded the statements of over 100 witnesses—10 of them are recorded before a judicial magistrate under section 164 of the CrPC.
Gujarat ATS has also written a letter rogatory to Jamaica, where the duo’s mentor Abdullah Al Faisal is based. Stimberwala and Mirza planned to flee to Jamaica after the attacks. “They were in touch with Abdullah, who allegedly incited the two with radical speeches,” said an ATS official.
Kasim Stimberwala worked at a trust-run hospital in Ankleshwar and resigned about 20 days before he was arrested. Mirza is a lawyer and had a hotel business in Surat.
