IS operative scouted for hideout in RR dist

HYDERABAD: Posing as a businessman scouting for a piece of land in Dharur mandal of Ranga Reddy district, one of the suspected Islamic State (IS) operatives arrested in the city had taken shelter at a place of worship for two days. During his stay, he scoured the nearby forest area for a safe hideout after their planned terror strike. However, the module was busted before it could execute its plan.
Intelligence officials had earlier said that somewhere in Vikarabad, the IS operative, reportedly Ibrahim Yazdani, had planned to look for a safe house, which could be used post the terror strike in Hyderabad.During his recent custody, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took him to Kireli village and Antharam village in Dharur mandal on Monday. He reportedly showed the place of worship (a mosque), where he stayed, and areas he scouted for firing practice.
"The NIA officials informed me about their visit to Kireli only while leaving the place after completing the investigation," Dharur sub-inspector Shamshuddin told TOI.
It is learnt that the masjid representatives identified the suspected IS operative and told the investigators that he claimed that he was looking for land in the mandal. However, they did not suspect his motives during his two-day stay and did not realise that the purpose of his stay was for something else.
The NIA officials confirmed to TOI that most of the explosives recovered from the latest IS module members was from the same supplier who had supplied explosives to the pan-India IS module busted in January and against whom two chargesheets were filed in the last one week. In the January module, of the arrested 16 members, five were arrested from Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, Ataullah Rahman, the mastermind who used to radicalise youth and draw them into the IS fold, was taken to Delhi by the NIA officials on Wednesday as a local court granted the agency five-day custody.
"In the January case, the city-based accused bought some explosives in the local market, but the rest was arranged by their fugitive handler, Shafi Armar, who in the latest case too had arranged explosives through his network to Ibrahim and the other accused," a senior NIA officer told TOI.
The NIA officials were reportedly dumbstruck by Ataullah Rahman, a gifted orator, and his talking skills. After seeing his speech prowess, he was specifically taken to New Delhi to 'tame' him, sources said.