This was informed by Bhubaneswar-Cuttack commissioner of police Rajendra Prasad Sharma here on Thursday.
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Said to be a doctorate in Arabic and Islamic Studies from Darul Uloom Deoband (or Deoband Islamic University) in Saharanpur (UP), Rehman was running the madrasa in Tangi area of Cuttack district. He was now the third suspected member arrested by the police in India this week, the police added.
Two others were also arrested in the case, one for allegedly attempting to radicalise students at a madrassa in Uttar Pradesh state and another for financing the group’s activities, Press Trust of India reported.
Notably, the Commissionerate Police and Delhi police had arrested Rahman from his house at Paschimakachha village in Jagatpur on Tuesday night after conducting a joint raid.
What started as a tipoff from jailed Indian Mujahideen commander Yasin Bhatkal’s interrogation 27 months ago, has finally led to the busting of the first al-Qaeda module in India.
An alert has been sounded in the district after it emerged that a suspected al Qaeda operative had links with youths, police said. “Asif was apprehended” when he went to meet a contact at a flyover in New Delhi, the statement said.
His elder brother Tahiyar Ali was also arrested in 2001 in connection with the terror attack on the American Centre at Kolkata.
At least five Indians, including Haq’s operational deputy, are Indian nationals operating from Pakistan, claims the report. The man from UP handling the operations in India was identified as Mohammad Asif, also a resident of Sambhal.
He was reportedly engaged in recruiting more members for Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), an affiliate body of Al Qaeda. Asif got two more men with him and the finance was arranged by Umar.
Qasim allegedly instructed Masood to pay them money and facilitate their travel to Pakistan. The AQIS was established in September 2014.
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Police had said that Asif and the youths then reached Sumali in North Waziristan where Asif underwent training.
