Plot to kill BJP leader: ATS arrests four from Maharashtra, Karnataka

New Delhi, Aug 25: The Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) has picked up four suspects from Karnataka and Maharashtra after a plot to kill a BJP leader was unearthed. The four were picked up after the arrest of a Chhota Shakeel gang member in Ahmedabad.

The sharpshooter was picked up after the ATS learnt that he had been hired to kill Gordhan Zadafia, who was the home minister of the state in 2002, when the Gujarat riots took place.

Officials said that the suspects were in touch with Irfan alias Kalia, a resident of Chembur in Mumbai. The 24 year old Irfan is a sharpshooter in the Chhota Shakeel gang and was held from Hotel Vinus in Ahmedabad on August 19.

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The Gujarat ATS said that Irfan has been charged under the UAPA and he was trying to assassinate the former home minister at the behest of the ISI. It is alleged that Irfan had visited the BJP office in Gandhinagar and carried out a reconnaissance. He was also in touch with his handler. Irfan who has now tested positive for COVID-19 has been shifted to an isolation ward at the Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.