Gujarat ATS keeping close watch on ISIS sympathizers

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat ATS is keeping a close watch on the youths in the state who are following the terror outfit ISIS on various social media platforms, officials said on Wednesday. 

Waseem and Naeem Ramodiya, the two brothers who were arrested by the ATS on Sunday last for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to spread terror in Gujarat, admitted to having created a chat group on a messaging application to communicate with other suspected persons.

"Waseem and Naeem admitted to have created a group on a messaging application and added some suspected persons in it. It was also revealed that some youths from Gujarat are following ISIS on social media. All such persons are now on our radar and investigations are on to identify and locate them," a senior Gujarat ATS official said.

Both Waseem and Naeem were nabbed from Rajkot and Bhavnagar respectively. They have been remanded to 12-days custody of ATS by a local court in 
Rajkot on Monday, following which, they were brought to ATS headquarter here yesterday.

Officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai ATS joined their Gujarat counterparts in the interrogation, he said.

As per the FIR filed against them, the duo were under surveillance of security agencies for over a year for their suspected activities and communication with the alleged ISIS handler.

It is alleged that the two brothers were about to carry out "lone-wolf" attacks in Gujarat, after which, they had planned to escape to Syria.

During the interrogation, it was revealed that Waseem convinced Naeem to join him for spreading terror in Gujarat through various means, including planting bombs.

"Waseem claimed that he was jobless and wanted some money. So he thought of working for ISIS, for which, he was expecting some reward. When he failed to carry out the attacks on his own, his wife convinced Waseem to involve Naeem," said the official.