Maharashtra ATS arrests terror suspect from Pune city

The accused, who hails from Buldhana, is alleged to be in contact with terror operatives from J&K

In a major probe, the Pune unit of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on May 24 arrested a man from the city’s Dapodi area, alleged to be in touch with terror operatives from Jammu and Kashmir.

The suspect, identified as Junaid Mohammed, was later produced in court by the ATS and remanded in police custody till June 3.

According to authorities, Junaid, who is in his early 20s, hails from Khamgaon in Buldhana district. He has been staying with relatives in Dapodi and was working at a scrap dealer’s shop, though he is believed to have changed residences a number of times, said officials.

As per the ATS, the suspect has been in contact with Kashmir-based operatives of the terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and had visited Jammu and Kashmir no less than six times in the last two years. He had allegedly been maintaining contact with terror operatives through phone messenger groups and had even received some money for terror-related activities.

The prosecution said that Junaid, through social media platforms like Facebook, had been tasked with recruitment for LeT groups and was believed to have conducted reconnaissance for a possible strike. He had apparently changed his mobile phone number several times in order to give the authorities the slip.

The ATS is probing the possibility of Junaid’s contacts being from Pakistan and will be taking the suspect to Kashmir in order to make him reveal the full nature of his contact with terror operatives.