Al-Qaida operative held

New Delhi, February 8

The NIA today arrested an Al-Qaida operative for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to carry out an IED blast in Lucknow.

An NIA spokesperson said Tawheed Ahmad Shah, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district, was arrested on Monday.

The case was registered by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in July last year at Gomtinagar police station against the accused for hatching a conspiracy to recruit members for Al-Qaida’s affiliate Ansaar Gajwat-ul-Hind (AGH) and for committing terrorist acts in Lucknow, the spokesperson said.

Tawheed was the mastermind of the conspiracy for recruitment and to commit terrorist acts in the name of AGH, including procurement of arms, ammunition and explosive materials to be used for attacks in UP, the spokesperson said. —