Police questioning took an unexpected turn after a Haryana preacher arrested for alleged links to a white-collar terror cell arrested in Faridabad seemed less concerned about the seriousness of the charges and more focused on recovering unpaid rent from the arrested doctors involved in the case, PTI reported.
Maulvi Ishtiyaq, a religious preacher from Mewat in Haryana, was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for allegedly keeping 2,500 kg of explosive material, including ammonium nitrate, potassium chlorate and sulphur, in his rented residence near Faridabad’s Al Falah University, which has now emerged as the epicenter of terror operations.
The ongoing inspection by the Srinagar police is part of an investigation into the banned “white collar” terror network Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. The network was first exposed on November 10, hours before a car bomb exploded near Delhi’s Red Fort, leading to the arrest of eight people, including three doctors.
One of them, Dr. Umar-un-Nabi, evaded arrest and was found to be driving an explosive-laden car that exploded outside the Red Fort on November 10, killing 15 people and injuring several others.
The preacher’s shocking statement
Maulvi Ishtiyaq’s name came up during the interrogation of one of those captured doctors – Dr. Muzammil Ganai, who was identified as a key member of the “white collar” terrorist module.
He was arrested from the university after which a police team traced the location of the explosives at the preacher’s residence, PTI reported.
However, Ishtiyaq told his investigators a shockingly different story, claiming that Ganaie and Umar approached him earlier this year and asked him to store what they described as “fertilizers” for a monthly storage fee of ₹2,500, according to PTI.
Read also | Delhi blast case: J&K Police arrest Pulwama electrician linked to terror module
Living below the poverty line and struggling to support his four children and family, the preacher made an immediate and desperate plea to the officials to recover the six months’ rent owed by Ganai and Umar so that he could send the money back home.
How did the investigators respond to the lawsuit?
Officials recounted the bizarre disparity between the heinous nature of the crime — stockpiling enough material for a massive terror attack — and the detainee’s sole interest in his rent, “enough to briefly break the tension in the interrogation room,” PTI reported.
“This incident provides a bizarre and tragicomic glimpse into the lives involved on the fringes of major terrorist plots,” said a senior police official.
Maulvi Ishtiyaq’s story supported Ganai during the investigation after which the preacher was handed over to the State Investigation Agency (SIA) for further action.
All about the operation that exposed the terrorist network
The entire operation that neutralized the terror module on November 10 began on the night of October 18-19 after the appearance of banned JeM posters, threats of attacks on police and security forces near Srinagar city.
The investigation led police to Al Falah University, near which 2,900 kg of explosives were found stored.
Read also | Faridabad police interrogating over 2,000 Kashmiris in Delhi blast case
Three individuals – Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf and Maqsood Ahmad Dar (alias Shahid) – were arrested after CCTV footage caught them pasting the posters. During interrogation, they identified former paramedic-turned-preacher Maulvi Irfan as the person who supplied the posters, leading to his arrest, PTI reported.
