Bengaluru: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has apprehended the key mastermind behind a terror module linked to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). The accused, 30-year-old Shama Parveen, was arrested in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on Tuesday.

According to reports, Parveen was allegedly orchestrating the entire network and acted as the chief handler, coordinating activities from Karnataka. Her arrest came following leads developed from the interrogation of four Al-Qaeda operatives arrested by the ATS last week.

Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi stated that the woman arrested from Bengaluru was deeply radicalised and had been running an online terror module. He also confirmed that investigators have traced her links to Pakistani contacts through her electronic devices.

“Gujarat ATS had earlier arrested four AQIS terrorists. Yesterday, a woman from Bengaluru was arrested. She is highly radicalised and operated an online terror module. Important Pakistani contacts were recovered from her devices. With this, Gujarat ATS has now arrested five AQIS operatives connected to this online module,” Sanghvi said.

On July 23, the Gujarat ATS dismantled part of the AQIS network, arresting four suspected terrorists. Among them, one was detained in Delhi, another in Noida, and two others from Ahmedabad and Modasa in Gujarat.

The four arrested individuals — namely Mohammed Faiq, son of Mohammed Rizwan; Mohammed Fardeen, son of Mohammed Raees; Sefullah Kureshi, son of Mohammed Rafik; and Zeeshan Ali, son of Asif Ali — were involved in propagating the ideology of AQIS (Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent) and were actively spreading extremist content through social media platforms and suspect applications.

Police revealed that all four are aged between 20 and 25 years and were planning a major terror attack in India. Investigators also found that the group stayed connected via social media platforms.

Investigations revealed that Parveen allegedly used social media to attract and influence others with extremist narratives focused on jihad and Sharia. Through these platforms, she introduced herself to potential recruits and was reportedly planning a larger conspiracy. However, the plan was disrupted when four of her associates were arrested earlier. Based on leads obtained from them, the Gujarat ATS apprehended Shama Parveen in Bengaluru. Further investigations into the network are ongoing. DeshGujarat