LUCKNOW: Day after Qaeda suspect Salman Wani was nabbed from Ramban area of Kashmir by UP anti-terrorist squad, his interrogation revealed explosive details about a sleeper cell network straddling west Uttar Pradesh and Kashmir. Wani and his ideological mentor Inamul Haq, who was smoked out of his Bareilly hideout on June 18, were allegedly radicalizing jobless youths in Jammu and Kashmir and west UP to create a jihadist outfit and fill the vacuum of Zakir Musa, slain founder and commander of the Indian wing of the Al Qaeda.
“The duo was planning to execute a big terror attack to draw attention of international jihad handlers for recruitment and funding,” said an ATS official privy to the investigation.
Wani, 26, who was sent to five-day police custody by a local court on Tuesday, came in touch with Inamul Haq four years ago while pursuing an engineering diploma in Baghpat and was in a relationship with a girl student of the same college. After the girl died, a grief-struck Wani returned to Kashmir to carry out his clandestine activity from his home near the Pir Panjal range in Ramban.
The Salman-Inamul collaboration began in 2016 over various social media platforms before both met in a west UP town. They duo displayed similar inclinations over posts relating to Qaeda and decided to form their own terror outfit. “We decoded some messages and retrieved conversations on social media, which displayed their motive to spread jihad,” the officer said. Wani’s father, Nazeer, was a retired forest ranger.
Speaking to TOI, D K Thakur, additional director general of UPATS, said, both Haq and Wani had a stormy past. “Wani was a drug addict during his high-school days while Haq triggered communal tension in Haldwani when he desecrated a temple,” he said.
We are trying to track down other individuals would interact with the duo on Telegram X app, said the officer. “Others have masked their numbers and deleted profiles on the app. Cyber experts are tracking these people,” he said.
“The duo was planning to execute a big terror attack to draw attention of international jihad handlers for recruitment and funding,” said an ATS official privy to the investigation.
Wani, 26, who was sent to five-day police custody by a local court on Tuesday, came in touch with Inamul Haq four years ago while pursuing an engineering diploma in Baghpat and was in a relationship with a girl student of the same college. After the girl died, a grief-struck Wani returned to Kashmir to carry out his clandestine activity from his home near the Pir Panjal range in Ramban.
The Salman-Inamul collaboration began in 2016 over various social media platforms before both met in a west UP town. They duo displayed similar inclinations over posts relating to Qaeda and decided to form their own terror outfit. “We decoded some messages and retrieved conversations on social media, which displayed their motive to spread jihad,” the officer said. Wani’s father, Nazeer, was a retired forest ranger.
Speaking to TOI, D K Thakur, additional director general of UPATS, said, both Haq and Wani had a stormy past. “Wani was a drug addict during his high-school days while Haq triggered communal tension in Haldwani when he desecrated a temple,” he said.
We are trying to track down other individuals would interact with the duo on Telegram X app, said the officer. “Others have masked their numbers and deleted profiles on the app. Cyber experts are tracking these people,” he said.
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