ATS busts IS module in Porbandar; woman among four arrested

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat anti-terrorist squad (ATS) has arrested four individuals for alleged links to Islamic State (IS) affiliate Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP). Three arrests were made in Porbandar, while one woman was apprehended in Surat. ATS is currently searching for a fifth member of the group, believed to be a resident of Srinagar.
Those arrested have been identified as Ubaid Nasir Mir, Hanan Hayat Shawl, and Mohammad Hajim Shah, all from Srinagar, and Sumerabanu Hanif Malek from Saiyedpura in Surat.The fugitive member, Zubair Ahmed Munshi, is a resident of Amira Kadal, Srinagar. According to ATS officials, Mir, Shawl and Shah were allegedly radicalised by their handler, Abu Hamza, and joined ISKP.

The operation was led by deputy inspector general Deepan Bhadran, who was camping in Porbandar along with other officials since Friday. A special ATS team was conducting special operations in Porbandar and its surrounding areas. "During their operations, ATS detained three people from Porbandar who were associated with the terrorist organization ISKP," ATS officials said. The three individuals detained in Porbandar were Mir, Shawl, and Shah.
The three Srinagar residents - Ubaid Nasir Mir, Hanan Hayat Shawl and Mohammad Hajim Shah - arrested by ATS from Porbandar were allegedly headed to Afghanistan to take part in a terror training camp and become part of the campaign of the the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP).
Investigators said there were cases against them and they could not have gone to Afghanistan legally by getting visas. Abu Hamza, their handler, preferred travelling through Porbandar over transiting through Kashmir as they feared being killed or captured by security forces along the border in Kashmir. Hamza recommended the alternative route through Porbandar, considering it the safest, if they could board fishing trawlers as labourers. The use of Indian trawlers for illegal activities was known to Hamza. In the past, boats have been used to push drugs in India.
The three were instructed by Abu Hamza to get to Porbandar. They were to be picked up from the station in a white Maruti Eeco car and taken to the port. After getting aboard a fishing boat as labourers, they were to get to a predetermined GPS coordinate with the captain's help. ATS officials said they were to be picked by a dhow at the coordinates, to get to Iran. The three told investigators that they were to be given fake passports using which they were to get to Khorasan and on to Herat.