JOIN USISI Conspiracy Case: Terror suspect held after 16 years
The Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) and Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested a terror suspect from the city's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport soon after he landed from a Kuwait flight here in the wee hours of Monday. Police said that the suspect was wanted in the 16 years old "Jihadi or ISI Conspiracy" case which was allegedly planned for taking revenge for 2002 post-Godhra riots and atrocities on Muslims. The murder of home minister Haren Pandya, blasts in public transport buses in 2003 are said to be the result of this conspiracy.
According to police, Mohammed Abdul Wahab Shaikh, a resident of Juhapura, was arrested from the airport for his alleged role in raising and sending funds for alleged terror activities back in 2003. He is among the 64 accused arrested for far in this case. Assistant Commissioner of Police, DCB, B V Gohil said that "Shaikh had helped in raising funds and sending it to Ahmedabad to the conspirators through Angadia (courier) firms to one of the key accused Rasool Party."
Gohil said that Shaikh was staying in Saudi Arabia since 2002 and it was the first time that he came to Ahmedabad to meet his family. He started working as a tailor and for the past five to six years Shaikh was working for a tour operator firm. Gohil said that there are at least 30 more accused who are still wanted in this case that also includes fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. So far, 64 accused have been arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act or POTA, now repealed. In 2010, a special POTA court had convicted 22 persons.
Officers said that Shaikh knew that he was wanted in India and his arrival from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, would have alerted the cops, therefore, he took flight from Kuwait. Police said that various other wanted accused are hiding in Saudi Arabia. He is said to have raised and remitted Rs 2.5 lakh to Ahmedabad.
The investigators have claimed that from 2002 to 2003, a conspiracy was hatched to carry out terror strikes in Gujarat using Dawood Ibrahim’s network in Pakistan and the ISI, with a view to taking revenge for the loss caused to Muslims during the 2002 communal riots. It is alleged that scores of youths from Ahmedabad and Hyderabad were sent to Pakistan and were trained in handling weapons, making bombs.