The Gujarat Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) on Friday swooped down on five more suspected operatives allegedly associated with the banned Pakistan-based terror outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), taking the total number of arrests in the case to 18, officials said. According to ATS sleuths, one of the accused was in the advanced stages of assembling a time bomb before the operation was carried out.

Officials aware of the development said the latest arrests were made from different districts across Gujarat after the identities of the suspects emerged during the interrogation of the earlier arrested accused.

The five arrested accused were produced before a court, which remanded them to police custody, enabling state and central probe agencies to further probe the network’s activities, funding channels and operational plans.

The investigations carried out earlier had indicated that the module had allegedly been receiving financial aid from Pakistan-based handlers. Investigators also claimed that the handlers had directed the accused to buy a second-hand car, which is now being examined as part of the ongoing probe.

ATS claims bomb plot foiled before execution

The ATS officials said that one of the newly arrested accused possessed advanced knowledge about explosives and was close to completing a live time bomb. Acting on specific intelligence inputs, ATS teams launched a coordinated operation and detained the accused before the device could be built completely.

The investigators continued by saying that the five recently-arrested accused, along with the ones already in custody, were allegedly involved in testing improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Prosecutors informed the court that the group had earlier attempted to test a crude time bomb, but the experiment turned out to be unsuccessful.

The ATS said numerous search operations are underway to recover bomb-making materials, technical documents and alleged JeM-related literature in Urdu. Officials believe these materials could provide more insights into the module’s activities and intended plans.

Arrests mark 3rd phase of ATS’s crackdown

Notably, the latest arrests mark the third phase of the Gujarat ATS’s crackdown on what the sleuths termed ‘Darul Islam Gujarat Jaish-e-Mohammed’ sleeper cell. The probe began with a series of coordinated midnight raids conducted across Gujarat, including Banaskantha, Patan and Navsari districts, as well as Dewas in Madhya Pradesh. Initially, the ATS dismantled the alleged core module and arrested several suspects.

According to ATS officials, the sleeper cell maintained direct communication with Pakistan-based handlers identified as Abdullah and Mohammad Umar. The duo has been suspected of directing recruitment efforts targeting vulnerable youth, facilitating that transfer of funds and helping establish an operational network for future terror activities.