Gujarat ATS Unravels Ricin Poison Terror Plot
Ahmedabad: Gujarat Counter Terrorism Squad busted a suspected terrorist organization by arresting a ‘doctor’ with a Chinese MBBS degree and two others who were allegedly preparing the highly lethal chemical poison ‘Ricin’ and whose director was allegedly linked to the Islamic State Khorasan Province.
One of the accused, Dr Ahmed Mohiyuddin Saiyed, and two other arrested accused, identified as Azad Suleman Sheikh and Mohammad Suhail Mohammad Saleem, were carrying out reconnaissance at various sensitive places in Lucknow, Delhi and Ahmedabad, a senior ATS officer said on Sunday.
“Dr. Ahmed Mohiyuddin Saiyed is a highly educated and radicalized person and had planned to raise funds and recruit people as part of a conspiracy to carry out major terrorist activities,” Gujarat ATS DIG Sunil Joshi told reporters.
The defendants also revealed that their handlers sent the arms consignment to the Pakistan border via a drone.
Acting on a tip-off, an ATS team arrested Dr Saiyed, originally from Hyderabad, with two Glock pistols, a Beretta pistol, 30 live bullets and four liters of castor oil near Adalaj in Gandhinagar on November 7, Joshi told reporters.
Saiyed, who received his MBBS degree in China, is preparing an extremely lethal poison called ‘Ricin’ to carry out a major terrorist attack. Joshi said he has already begun the necessary research, procured equipment and raw materials, and started initial chemical processing.
Ricin is a chemical poison and can be made from waste material left over from the processing of castor beans.
Joshi said Saiyed, Sheikh and Saleem were in Gujarat to exchange arms and conspired to carry out terrorist activities in which Ricin was involved.
During interrogation, Saiyed revealed that he was planning to carry out terrorist activities and had collected the weapons from an isolated location in Kalol in Gandhinagar district.
The officer said Saiyed’s handler, Abu Khadijah, was a resident of Afghanistan with ties to ISKP (Islamic State Khorasan Province) and was also in contact with several people from Pakistan.
He said other accused Sheikh and Saleem, both hailing from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested from Banaskantha district for allegedly supplying arms to Saiyed based on information collected from his mobile phone.
Joshi alleged that Sheikh and Saleem procured arms from Hanumangadh in Rajasthan and supplied them to Saiyed.
Joshi said the ATS also seized three mobile phones and two laptops from their possession.
“CDR (call detail record) and interrogation of the accused showed that they had been carrying out reconnaissance (operations in sensitive locations) throughout the last year. We are yet to come across any local sleeper cells linked to them, but an all-round investigation will be conducted regarding the involvement of local and international networks,” he added.
Whether they were involved in ISKP or not is a matter of investigation, he said, adding that Gujarat ATS was also investigating the case in different states.
He said the ATS would arrest others by coordinating with the Center and state agencies.
The trio was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Arms Act and Saiyed has been remanded in ATS custody till November 17, while the other two will be produced in court on Sunday.
