The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Thursday said it has arrested a man in Pune for allegedly giving shelter to the two terror suspects held last week by the city police by subletting a flat where he was a tenant.
The ATS also said that it recovered black “explosive” powder, laptops, parts of drones, books written in Arabic, among other things from the two terror suspects, in addition to a tent that the duo had allegedly procured to stay in the forest areas in Pune’s adjoining districts.
The ATS took over the probe into the case from the Pune police recently.
The two terror suspects, wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for their alleged involvement in a terror-related case in Rajasthan, was nabbed from the Kothrud area of Pune city in the wee hours of July 18.
A court in Pune later remanded the duo – Mohammad Imran Mohammad Yunus Khan (23) and Mohammad Yunus Mohammad Yakub Saki (24) – in police custody till July 25, which was extended till August 5.
“A man identified as Abdul Qadir Dastgir Pathan was arrested on Wednesday for giving shelter to Khan and Saki in Pune,” the ATS said.
On Thursday, he was produced in a special court, which remanded in the ATS custody till August 5.
Seeking the custody of Qadir, the ATS told the court that he had sublet his rented flat in Kondhwa to these two accused.
After hearing the arguments, the court remanded Qadir in the ATS custody till August 5, observing that the case was of serious nature.
The ATS also detained a man from coastal Ratnagiri district, but it was not clear whether he is the same person held for giving shelter to the terror suspects.
The two arrested terror suspects hail from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and are graphic designers. Both carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh each, the police said.
They fled Ratlam after coming to know that their names cropped up in the investigation in the terror case in which some suspected members of the Al-Sufa outfit were apprehended by the Rajasthan police from the Madhya Pradesh town, the police said.
They landed in Mumbai, where they stayed in the Bhendi Bazaar area for two to three days and then came to Pune’s Kondhwa area. The duo took up jobs with the help of a local resident, the sources said.
They befriended a third person, a resident of Jharkhand, who managed to escape when the police nabbed the duo, they said.
In Kondhwa, the accused duo happened to meet Qadir and told him that they have come to Pune in search of a job as their financial condition was weak, the sources said.
Qadir, who himself was involved in graphic designing work, provided them job and sublet the place, he had taken on rent, to them as an accommodation, they said.
The ATS said that they recovered a tent, which the two terror suspects had procured to live in the jungle areas.
Several items, such as laptops, tablets, weighing machines, parts of drones, maps, electric circuits, a soldering gun, black powder, and books written in Arabic, were also recovered from the duo, it said.
“During the analysis of the black powder, it came to light that it was an explosive substance,” it said.
The ATS also added that they also recovered a tent, which they had procured to live in jungle areas.
Sources said that the two terror suspects were exploring possible hideouts in the jungle areas surrounding the Pune district in a bid to escape the eyes of the investigation agencies.
After taking over the investigation in the case, the ATS has slapped stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against the suspects as the seized items suggest that the duo had received training on making bombs and posed a threat to the unity and security of the nation, they said.
The ATS also said in its statement that multiple teams were working to trace the third suspect, who managed to escape during the operation on July 18.
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