Gujarat ATS arrests Al Qaeda 'operative' from Bengaluru

After arresting four suspected operatives of Al Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) recently, the Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Wednesday arrested Shama Parveen (33) from Bengaluru for being a campaigner for AQIS.

Parveen has been brought to Ahmedabad and remanded to 14-day police custody by the Ahmedabad Rural Court.

Originally from Jharkhand, Parveen, a commerce graduate, was reportedly operating from Bengaluru for around half a decade and carrying out propaganda for the proscribed outfit. Speaking to the media, Gujarat DIG ATS Sunil Joshi said the interrogation of one of the four AQIS operatives arrested earlier led to the spotting of Parveen's social media handles, which were heavily populated with more than 10,000 followers each.


Joshi said that while Parveen had initially confessed that she used to upload incendiary material on social media, including speeches of AQIS leaders like Maulana Asim Umar and Anwar al-Awlaki, that promoted violent jihad and Ghazwa-e-Hind. Parveen, according to Joshi, also uploaded videos of Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lahore's Lal Masjid on her accounts.

On July 22, Gujarat ATS had arrested Fardin Sheikh from Ahmedabad, Mahammad Faique from Chandni Chawk in Delhi, Jishan Ali from Noida and Saifullah Qureshi from Modasa, Aravalli district in Gujarat for their alleged affiliation with AQIS.