Gujarat IS brothers give cops names of 40 operatives

AHMEDABAD/RAJKOT: The two Islamic State terror group suspects arrested from Rajkot and Bhavnagar on Sunday have confessed to their plans of planting bombs in the thickly populated Trikon Baug and Gundawadi areas of Rajkot this week. On Monday, the suspects Waseem Ramodiya and his brother Naeem were remanded to the custody of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) till March 10.
Investigators have got names of at least 40 other persons from across Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, who were engaged with the brothers regarding IS activities across the globe.“We are conducting verification of these persons to know the extent of their indoctrination,” an official said.
During questioning, Waseem told the ATS that his wife Shahzeen used to frequently taunt him as “impotent” for not being able to execute the “tasks” given to him by their handlers who operated with the names “Big Cat” and “onegoal1aim” through the username @katakat313. The handlers, suspected to be Indians, were communicating with Waseem through a social media platform in an end-to-end encrypted code.
ATS officials told TOI that Shahzeen’s taunts got on to Waseem’s nerves and he finally went to Chotila on January 15. However, he stopped 10km away from the town, fearing that he would be caught. The brothers then decided to torch vehicles in Bhavnagar. “However, they again feared getting caught and did not set the vehicles ablaze,” said an investigator.
Then, as per the handlers’ instructions, the duo gathered fire crackers from Rajkot’s Sadar Bazaar and a nine-volt battery to assemble IEDs . The IEDs were to be planted at Trikon Baug and Gundawadi on the week ending March 4. “We are verifying the evidence against Shahzeen before taking any action,” the official said.
Officials also said the PDF files the brothers downloaded had details about lone wolf attack at a Bangalore-based restaurant by Alamzeb Afridi, an Indian Mujahideen suspect. Meanwhile, the Rajkot Bar Association adopted a resolution not to defend Waseem and Naeem.