Uttar Pradesh Police arrest 3 more terror suspects for links with Al-Qaeda outfit

Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad on Wednesday arrested three Lucknow residents for allegedly being associated with Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a wing of terror outfit Al-Qaeda.

As per an official release of ATS, the names of the accused--Shakeel, Mustakeem, and Mueed --came to light during questioning of two terrorists arrested from Lucknow on July 11.

Prashant Kumar, ADG, Law and order, UP said the motive of the arrested accused was to carry out terrorist activities and inflict damage to life and property.

"On the basis of information by two terrorists arrested on July 11, we arrested three more people. They admitted their crime and connections with the gang during interrogation. They will be produced before court," said the ADG.

"Their motive was to carry out terrorist activities, which could inflict damage to life and property. They sought to create panic in the society,' he added.

On Sunday, Uttar Pradesh ATS had busted Al-Qaeda's terror module in Lucknow's Kakori and arrested two terrorists identified as Minhaz Ahmad (30) and Maseeruddin (50).

ADG Prashant Kumar toldthat the two arrested accused along with their associates were planning to conduct a blast in Lucknow and surrounding areas before August 15.

"Pistols, IED and huge explosives were recovered from their possession. The search operation is underway to nab their other associates" the police official said.

The ADG had also said the terror module is being operated by their masterminds sitting across the border. "The Al-Qaeda's Indian subcontinent module started since 2014 is being governed by Umar Halmandi from Peshawar, Quetta in Pakistan," added Kumar.

( With inputs from ANI )