Muzaffarnagar, Oct 31: The Uttar Pradesh police will soon verify papers of thousands of passport holders in Deoband, its neighbouring regions and all the districts of Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar. This directive has come after the police had arrested two suspected Bangladeshi terrorists who had managed to get Indian passports on Deoband addresses. It is suspected that more terror modules are hiding in the city of Deoband.
Soon after the arrest of the suspected Bangladeshi terrorists, the Uttar Pradesh government has asked all the DMs to take action against all the Bangladeshi nationals the illegally living in the state. An action against officials, involved in getting ID cards for Bangladeshi nationals during their illegal stay here, has also been directed.
“It’s not only about Deoband or any particular community. The verification of passport holders will take place in entire Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur owing to inputs we have received that a few terror modules could be hiding in the area,” Saharanpur DIG KS Emmanuel was quoted by saying by TOI. Emmanuel added that in the past, men with questionable credentials were found in the city on many occasions in the past.
Emmanuel also revealed that the suspected Bangladeshi terrorist who was arrested from Muzaffarnagar had got his passport made in Saharanpur. “So we are just being cautious and improving the mechanism of inquiry by verifying all passport holders in the region. We cannot take chances when it comes to security,” he told the daily.
In August 2017, a Bangladeshi national Abdullah Al-Mamon was arrested from Muzaffarnagar. Mamon is suspected to be a member of banned terror outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). before his arrest, Mamon stayed in Deoband for several years. In fact, the police later arrested many others from the area.
In October 2017, UP ATS had alerted the areas about absconder Faizan Ahmad, who was the key recruiter of the terror groups. In fact, he was also accused of leading youths into terror activities. UP ATS had recovered Islamic State literature and other things during a raid at Faizan’s Saharanpur lodging soon after the arrest of Mamon.
Since the arrests and raids in the region, nearly 20 suspected Bangladeshi men have gone missing in Western UP, a report said. The verification has also become urgent and necessary after reports that some local police personnel may have helped alleged Bangladeshi terrorists secure Indian passports. Sources have revealed that a sub-inspector and a constable are under scanner.
