Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested a suspect in a terror funding case and produced him before a Special Court in Pune. The suspect Junaid was sent to ATS custody till June 3 by the Special NIA Court after hearing both sides.
According to the ATS, the detained accused, Junaid, is an Indian national and was residing in Pune for a long time. He was connected to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)’s terror network and his specific role was to recruit terrorists for LeT, it added.
However, the defence claimed that Junaid was falsely implicated and he was not educated enough to understand what he was doing. “Junaid had visited Kashmir & was brainwashed; thereafter he got active on social media, as per ATS’s report. He was a resident of Pune & was switching places… if the investigation requires, he’ll be taken to J&K. The whereabouts of recces will be investigated. He has been brainwashed & is not connected to LeT in any way,” Defence lawyer Yashpal Purohit argued in the court.
Arrest of five ‘hybrid’ terrorists of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit
The development has come a day after the Jammu and Kashmir Police confirmed the arrest of five ‘hybrid’ terrorists of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit, three of whom were allegedly involved in the killing of a sarpanch in Baramulla district last month.
The arrests were made during separate police actions – two of them were held with arms and ammunition in the Srinagar city on Monday, while the rest three from Baramulla.
‘Hybrid’ militants are those who are not listed as terrorists but are radicalised enough to carry out a terror strike and then slip back into the routine life.
Those arrested in Srinagar have been identified by the police as Aamir Mushtaq Ganai alias Mussa, a resident of Khan Colony Chanpora, and Ajlan Altaf Bhat, a resident of Butpora Chanpora.
