The Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist from Kanpur, police officials said.
ATS Inspector General (IG) Aseem Arun said the arrested terrorist first came into limelight after he posted his picture with an AK-47 in the social media in April this year.
Intelligence agencies had been working on him for some time now, and based on leads collected over a period of time, he was arrested on Thursday from Shiv Nagar under Choker Police Station in Kanpur.
Officials told IANS that the terrorist had plans to attack public places during the ongoing Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Video grabs of a prominent city temple were found from his mobile phone.
He was sent by the Hizbul commanders to do a recce of the area and then carry out an attack, a police official privy to the development said.
During the initial interrogation, he has accepted that he is a member of Hizbul Mujahideen and that he was in Kanpur to carry out a major terror activity.
He also informed the police and ATS officials that he was trained by handlers in Kashmir in April 2017 in the thickets and mountainous region of Kishtwar. He is a graduate dropout from a college in Assam and has a diploma in computer course and typing, Director General of Police (DGP) O.P. Singh said.
Investigations have also revealed that during 2008-2012, he was in Republic of Palau, an island country near Philippines.
The ATS is now trying to know from him about the duration of his stay in Uttar Pradesh, if he has more accomplices, what were his other targets and where did he get funds from, the DGP added.
--IANS
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