The Gujarat anti-terrorist squad (ATS) announced on Sunday that it had arrested a Kashmiri, Bashir Ahmed Baba alias Aijaz, from near Samarkha village in Anand district. The 32-year-old Baba is alleged to be a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist who was in the state to recruit youths for terror training in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Baba arrived in Ahmedabad on February 20 and was staying at Parishram apartments in the Satellite area of the city. He is alleged to have done a recce of some key installations in Ahmedabad, including the ISRO facility in the city.
A resident of Srinagar, Baba was known among the Jammu and Kashmir police as ‘Pepsi Bomber’ for his ability to assemble improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in empty Pepsi cans. He was active during the Amarnath land agitation and had allegedly hurled IEDs in Pepsi cans at the police.
“Baba is a close associate of Bilal Shera, a top Hizbul Mujahideen leader,” said Gujarat ATS chief Ajay Tomar. “He had come to Gujarat to recruit people for terror training in PoK.” Tomar claimed that, because of Baba’s arrest, Ahmedabad had been saved from his sinister plans. The places that the Hizbul terrorist had allegedly visited for his terror plans include the shopping malls on SG Highway, Fun Republic cinema, ISRO, shopping malls at Law Garden, Kankaria Lake, Science City and the railway station.
Baba is a graduate and also has a diploma in computers. He was working with the Kimya Foundation in Srinagar for over a year. The Kimya Foundation runs medical centres for correction of cleft lip deformities.
The Gujarat ATS chief further said that the Foundation is associated with various hospitals in the country, including a hospital in Ahmedabad.
Baba had come to Ahmedabad as a camp assistant of the Kimya Foundation. His accommodation in Parisham apartments in the Satellite area of the city had also been arranged by the hospital authorities. He had used the hospital’s telephone to make a phone call to his contact in Gujarat and had also talked to Bilal Shera, the Hizbul leader.
Tomar said that Baba was actually a ‘talent scout’ for Shera. He used to conduct fortnight-long capsule courses in bomb-making and handling of explosives, the ATS chief said. While in Ahmedabad, Baba had shown little interest in his work for Kimya Foundation. He had, instead, done recce of vital installations and had also visited Anand, Vadodara, Nadiad and Dabhoi.
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