Al-Qaeda militant who came to India to train Rohingyas got radicalised in London jail

A Brit al-Qaeda militant who claimed to be organising resistance among Rohingyas to fight the Myanmar Army was arrested by Delhi Police special cell. He had set up a base for the outfit in city and recruit cadre for jihad.

Samiun Rahman, 28, alias Hamdan, a resident of Port Pool Lane, London, was staying in India with fake identity of Shumon Haq alias Raju Bhai. The fake ID proof mentions the residential address as House No. 88, Mullabadi post office, Dhantola Thakurganj, Kishanganj, Bihar.

His parents moved to Britain from Bangladesh in 1960s and settled in central London. Rahman's father was a businessman in London. Aged 19, he was arrested by traffic cops in London twice. He was jailed for 18 months.

In the London prison, he got "radicalised", and in 2012, when he came out, he went to Mauritania. He was influenced by salafi teachings. Soon he was recruited by leaders of al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb. There he was told to go to Syria and fight for al-Nusra - an affiliate of al-Qaeda in Syria -fighting against the Syrian government forces.

After joining the terror outfit, he obtained three-week training in their camp in Syria. Between September and December 2013, he fought for al-Nusra. He received basic training in handling of weapons and how to plant an IED, in Atmeh, Syria. He also fought in Aleppo. Back in London, he was quizzed by anti-terror sleuths but was released.

During interrogation, he told police that while being in Syria, their group came to know about the "atrocities" on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. As he had stayed in Bangladesh for long, he was selected to raise a fighter group there. He was in contact with his outfit members via Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram.

SYRIA TO BANGLADESH TO INDIA

In 2014, he arrived in Bangladesh using a British passport to radicalise youth to join al-Qaeda with the help of Yasin, an old al-Qaeda cadre. He visited Silhet, Nabiganj, Dhaka and other places and radicalised dozens of youth in Bangladesh for their entry into Myanmar from Chittagong side.

He has admitted recruiting a dozen of odd youngsters, including Asif Adnan, son of a former high court judge, and Tanzeel, a bureaucrat's son. However, he was arrested in September 2014, and after imprisonment for about three years, he was released on bail in April 2017.

Then he contacted Mohammad Jowlani, head of al-Nusra, who further directed him to go to India and gave him a Bangladeshi identity card. He was since then known as Shumon Haq.

Two months ago, he entered India to set up a base in Mizoram and Manipur to fight for Rohingya Muslims, raise funds and incite youth to fight for the cause and facilitate their entry from the "porous" Mizoram and Manipur side.

He stayed at various madarsas in Kishanganj, Hazari Bagh, Delhi-NCR and other places, and it is believed that he was in touch with a number of youth to incite them to join al-Qaeda. He visited Delhi frequently for this cause, he told police.

He was also influencing people via Facebook and Telegram. He was in contact with his outfit members, including Jowlani, in Syria and other countries.

"Moreover for Rohingyas' cause, he was also planning to carry out terrorist incidents by collecting and training radicalised youth in Delhi and other parts of India," said PS Kushwah, DCP (special cell).

He was in Delhi-NCR to try and set up a base for al-Qaeda and recruit cadres for jihad. He was being assisted by various al-Qaeda cadre here and in Hazari Bagh. His accomplices are now being identified.

He was arrested at Vikas Marg in Shakarpur with a 9mm pistol, a laptop, a mobile phone with SIM card of India and Bangladesh. A case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2008 and Arms Act has been registered against him and an investigation has been taken up to unearth the al-Qaeda web he had knitted here.

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