Guj ATS arrests four Lankan nationals with IS links

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested four Sri Lankans with links to the banned outfit Islamic State (IS) who were allegedly on a mission to carry out terror activities in India, police said on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off, the ATS apprehended the accused at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel airport here after they travelled from Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo via Chennai on Sunday night, an official said. The men travelled to India to carry out terror activities at the behest of IS, DGP Vikas Sahay said. The ATS team also recovered three Pakistan-made pistols and 20 cartridges lying abandoned at a location in the city’s Nana Chiloda area based on geo-coordinates and photographs found on the mobile phone seized from the accused, Sahay said. The men were allegedly directed by their Pakistani handler to collect these weapons, he said. The accused, Mohammad Nusrat (35), Mohammad Faarukh (35), Mohammad Nafran (27) and Mohammad Rasdeen (43), took a flight from Colombo and reached Chennai in the wee hours of Sunday. They then took another flight to Ahmedabad, where they landed around 8 pm Sunday, the official said.