The Madhya Pradesh anti-terrorist squad (ATS) which recently dismantled a Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) module and apprehended 16 people from Madhya Pradesh and Telangana revealed that as many as 8 of these terrorists had converted to Islam. There are three arrested from Bhopal who married Hindu girls and later forced them to convert to Islam.
The arrested chief of this module, Mohammad Salim aka Saurabh Rajvaidya was a professor at Asaduddin Owaisi-owned Deccan Medical College in Hyderabad. While some reports identify him as ‘Saurabh Rajvaidya’, a report in the Dainik Bhaskar identifies him as Saurabh Rajvaidya Jain.
ATS asserted that the organization’s strategy was to identify susceptible and vulnerable non-Muslims and influence them to convert to Islam by brainwashing them with provocative speeches and lectures. They intended to foment terrorism and wage war against the country.
According to reports, ATS sources revealed that Yasin Khan, who was apprehended in Bhopal and Mohammad Salim who was arrested from Hyderabad were believed to be heading this group. While Yasin Khan was working as a gym trainer in Bhopal, Salim, living in the Golconda area in Hyderabad was working as a professor in Asaduddin Owaisi-owned Deccan Medical College. Mohammad Salim originally hails from Berasia in Bhopal. His real name is Saurabh Rajvaidya. Saurabh got married in the year 2009.
In the year 2010, Saurabh converted to Islam. His parents and the community were against his conversion. Later, in 2012, Saurabh’s wife also embraced Islam. Saurabh aka Salim first tried to get a conversion certificate made in Bhopal but when his attempts failed he travelled to Maharashtra to procure the certificate. He later relocated to Hyderabad, where he worked as a professor in the Biotechnical Department of the Deccan College of Medical Sciences. Salim used to give provocative speeches and lectures to brainwash others to embrace Islam and join the terrorist organisation.
Likewise, two other arrested accused Abdul Rehman and Mohammad Abbas were also originally Hindus who were brainwashed into converting to Islam. Abdul Rehman, a resident of Odisha was Devi Prasad Panda before he converted to Islam. Similarly, Mohammad Abbas, a resident of Hyderabad was Bux Venu Kumar before he embraced Islam.
Accused Yasir Khan and two others forced their Hindu wives to embrace Islam: ATS
According to ATS sources, Shahjahanabad-based gym instructor Yasir Khan got married to a Hindu woman. After that, he forced her to adopt Islam. Likewise, two other arrested Hizb ut-Tahrir members had also forced their respective wives to convert from Hinduism to Islam.
The ATS team meanwhile have taken some of the arrested accused, namely Mohammad Salim, Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Abbas Ali, Sheikh Junaid and Mohammad Hamid to Hyderabad. The team would be conducting raids and the terrorist’s other hideouts based on the information provided by the arrested youths.
BJP accuses AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi of sheltering terrorists in Hyderabad
Expressing concerns that arrested Mohammad Salim was working as a professor in the Biotechnical Department of the Deccan College of Medical Sciences owned by AIMIM party chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said that Hyderabad has become a shelter for terrorists with the Majlis party providing support as one of the arrested Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) activists turning out to be an employee of Owaisi hospital.
“What we have always been stating and feared is turning out to be true with the latest arrest of the most dangerous terrorists. Earlier, Majlis leader Asaduddin Owaisi had offered to help those living illegally, like Rohingyas, when they were arrested. He has gone a step further by providing shelter to terrorists from Pakistan and Bangladesh,” said Sanjay while addressing the media in BJP’s state office on May 10, a day after Madhya Pradesh busted the HuT module are arrested 16 individuals having links with the radical organisation.
Deccan College of Medical Science(DCMS) is a medical school situated in Hyderabad. DCMS is established and administered by Muslim Minority Trust, i.e., Dar-us-salam Educational Trust under the provision of Article 30(1) of the constitution of India. Dar-us-Salam Educational Trust is an autonomous body with Asaduddin Owaisi as its chairman. In fact, in February 2014, Owaisi had taken to Facebook to promote the college.
Meanwhile, National Investigation Agency (NIA) is set to take over the investigation of the recently busted Bhopal-Hyderabad module of the radical Islamic organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT).
The Madhya Pradesh ATS and IB had initiated the probe, but the case has interstate and international ramifications, necessitating the involvement of NIA, officials have revealed.
On May 9, in a joint operation with the Intelligence Bureau and the Telangana Police, the Madhya Pradesh anti-terrorist squad (ATS) conducted early-morning raids and seized five individuals with links to Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) in Hyderabad and 11 from two cities in Madhya Pradesh.
Hindi daily Bhaskar has quoted sources as saying that the son of a Bhopal gas tragedy activist is also included in those taken into custody.
The offenders were employed as teachers, fitness instructors, computer technicians, tailors, vehicle drivers, and labourers, among other occupations.
According to the police, the perpetrators’ possessions included radical literature, laptops, pen drives, hard drives, money, and other items.
The apprehended men were secretly practising shooting and receiving combat training at camps in remote jungle locations, where jihadi material was also passed out and provocative speeches were delivered during private religious gatherings.
The MP Police has registered a case against the accused under sections 13, 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and other relevant sections. They have been remanded to ATS custody until May 19 by a special court.
Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international pan-Islamist and fundamentalist political organization whose stated aim is the re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate to unite the Muslim community and implement sharia globally. The group’s aim is to unify all Muslim countries to form an Islamic state or caliphate. After establishing the Islamic State, they plan to expand the caliphate into non-Muslim areas, through “invitation” and through military jihad.
HuT has managed to extend its doctrine and support base to at least 50 nations. The outfit has been training its cadres in chemical and biological warfare while evading international inspection. The group is banned in 16 countries.
The HuT was last active in India in 2010, but recent information on its expansion plans in the country, particularly in Madhya Pradesh, where it has been covertly recruiting and training members, was provided by international security agencies.
Young individuals eager to give their lives for the cause of Islamism were known to be identified and recruited by the accused. They exchanged messages using a variety of encrypted applications, including Threema, Rocket Chat, and other programmes that are akin to those used by ISIS and other terrorist organisations on the dark web.
