Country-made weapons seized from house of 'terrorist'

The Special Task Force (STF) team has seized some weapons during a raid at the house of suspected terrorist Abdul Rehman. It has been revealed that Rehman was reportedly an expert in making country-made weapons.

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A senior STF official said some replicas of weapons made of wood and iron were seized from the house of the suspect at Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh.

The investigating agency suspects that the terrorists had planned to attack the Ram Temple on Ram Navami on April 6. Rehman, who has been arrested, was supposed to return to Ayodhya from here on March 4 with two hand grenades.

Meanwhile, there are many questions regarding the arrest of Rehman, who was nabbed from Pali village of Faridabad on March 2, in a joint operation by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Gujarat, and STF, Palwal. STF officers are still mum about Rehman.

A senior investigating officer claimed that the accused was a "fanatic" and a rosary was also recovered from his possession. The accused said he believed in his religion and used the rosary for prayers.

The STF team, which is interrogating the "terrorist", who is on a 10-day remand, is asking him about other accomplices associated with the terrorist organisation. In particular, the investigating agency is trying to find out the handler who delivered the hand grenades. Rehman, however, claimed that he had not contacted the person who had delivered the grenades. He was just told that the goods had been delivered at the location, and that he should collect them.

“The suspected terrorist revealed during the interrogation that he had been in contact with terrorists for about a year. He came in contact with the Jamaat after going to Delhi Markaz, after which he visited many parts of the country, including Visakhapatnam. He left for Ayodhya on March 1 after receiving the order. He told his family that he was going to a friend's place for some work,” said a senior STF member.

Rehman was arrested by a joint team of the ATS and the STF last Sunday. “We are questioning the accused and raided his house twice,” he added.