The Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested three residents of West Bengal working as artisans in Rajkot for their alleged links with terror outfit Al-Qaeda, officials said on Tuesday.

The ATS, following a tip-off, was closely monitoring the suspects for several days.

According to a statement by the ATS, the artisans associated with the city’s jewellery-making industry were allegedly in contact with an Al-Qaeda handler based in Bangladesh, who directed them to radicalise others and make them join their “cause” and also execute various tasks.

They were picked on Monday night and subsequently, the ATS team seized a country-made semi-automatic pistol, cartridges, radical literature, videos, and other materials from the accused.

The ATS is also scanning their financial records to ascertain if they received any financial assistance from their handler.

The accused have been identified as Shukra Ali, Shaif Nawaz, and Aman Malik.

The ATS claimed that Nawaz has been in Rajkot for the last two years, while the other two have been in the city for the last seven to eight months.

Ali and Nawaz hail from Bardhaman district while Malik is a resident of Hooghly.

According to officials, during interrogation it was revealed that Malik has been using the Telegram app for the last one year to keep in touch with his handler, who is also the head of Al-Qaeda in Bangladesh, and he was entrusted with the task of inspiring others to join the terrorist outfit.

The accused used two messaging apps to receive radical literature, videos, and training on how to use automatic weapons, officials added.

The ATS also claimed that Bangladeshi handler inspired Malik for the cause of ‘jihad’ and ‘hijrat’; and asked him to inspire others to join their ideology.

Officials said that the country-made pistol was recovered from Malik’s possession and it was not immediately clear as to how he intended to use it.

Malik got in touch with Ali and Nawaz, who shared the same fundamentalist mindset and agreed to work for the outfit, officials said.

The ATS is also probing ascertain who else had joined the accused and how the weapon had been procured. “A country-made semi-automatic pistol, ten rounds of cartridges, five mobile phones with radical materials, encrypted messaging app, and other free messaging app and materials on how to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons were all recovered from the accused and the materials have been sent for forensic examination,” officials added.

The trio has been arrested under section 121 A (conspiring to overawe, by means of criminal force or the show of criminal force, the central government or state government) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Arms Act.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)