Delhi Police apprehends al-Qaeda terrorist, say he was espousing Rohingya cause

New Delhi [India], September 18 (ANI): The Delhi Police Special Cell on Monday nabbed an al-Qaeda terrorist near the Shakarpur area in Delhi, with the police stating that he was fighting for the cause of Rohingyas.

Addressing the media here, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Special Cell Pramod Kushwaha said that the terrorist, going by the name of Shumon Haq, had come to Delhi to collect some documents, through people he had a setting with.

"His main purpose was to set up a base in Mizoram and Manipur, where he would have identified local Muslim boys, recruit them and send them to Myanmar as he was basically espousing the cause of Rohingyas," DCP Kushwaha said.

DCP Kushwaha said that he was in touch with many people in India, where the police have identified a few of them, through him, but added that they are working on it.

A Special Cell team, which was headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Govind Sharma, Inspector Kailash Bisht, Ravinder Tyagi and Inspector Chouhan, had caught the Al-Qaeda terrorist yesterday evening.

"A pistol, four bullet cartridges, laptops, and a mobile phone, which has a Bangladeshi SIM card, was found with him," DCP Kushwaha said.

DCP Pramod Kushwaha has said that foreign currency of 2,000 dollars - Rs. 13,000 of about Indian and Bangladeshi currency were found with him.

"We caught a voter identity card of the Kishan Gunj area and it was later found that he is a British National, who has a Bangladeshi origin," DCP Kushwaha added.

DCP Kushwaha stated that the terrorist has been associated with Al-Qaeda since 2013.

"In 2013, he ran away to South Africa and joined an al-Qaeda franchise. After that, he went to Syria and joined al-Ashraf front," he said while addressing the media.

DCP Kushwaha said that Shumon Haq got a three-month training there after which he participated in battle with the Syrian forces as well.

"In 2014, he was sent to Bangladesh. His purpose there was to set up the base and recruit people there that had to be sent to fight the Myanmar Army," DCP Kushwaha added.

The DCP said that the terrorist was arrested in Bangladesh under the terror recruit charges where he was in jail from September 2014 to April 2017.

When he got out of the jail through bail, he was directed to come to India.

"He is in touch with a lot of Bangladeshis regarding the issue. He is a hardcore terrorist, who has been part of the battles," he further said.

DCP Kushwaha added that the caught terrorist had no intention of carrying out a blast in Delhi.

When asked how he was connected to so many people across India and Bangladesh, DCP Kushwaha said that he is "tech savvy" and said, "He was connected to them through the internet and knows how to have protective chats and use the internet under protective encryption."

He also stated that besides Delhi, he has touched West Bengal and is in touch with a few people in South India and West India.

"When he was arrested in Bangladesh, it was estimated that about a dozen people were radicalised," DCP Kushwaha said.

His real name is said to be Shami-Uh-Rehman and has claimed that people are going through a lot in Syria and so fought against President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

DCP Kushwaha said that the terrorist is being further interrogated. (ANI)