Mumbai: Maharashtra ATS arrests nine Bangladeshi nationals for illegal stay

Maharashtra AntiTerrorism Squad ATS has arrested nine Bangladeshi nationals who were staying illegally in the country in separate operations across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai an official told news agency PTI on WednesdayAmong them two Bangladeshi nationals were wanted in connection with a rape case registered at Navi Mumbais Nerul police station in 2022 he saidThe operations at multiple locations and spread over a week were part of a drive against Bangladeshi nationals staying in the country without valid documents the official told PTIOn July 26 a raid was conducted at Nerul village in Navi Mumbai where ATS officials nabbed a Bangladeshi woman She was wanted in a case registered by the Mumbai Crime Branch in 2009 he saidBesides her two men wanted in the rape case were also apprehended from the satellite city the official told PTIThe next day ATS sleuths conducted a raid at Byculla in the metropolis and arrested four Bangladeshi nationals wanted in a case registered under the Passport Act he saidIn another raid two citizens of the neighbouring country were apprehended from central Mumbai the official told PTIMeanwhile the Maharashtra ATS which is probing the case related to two terror suspects arrested in Pune last month has now taken into custody Zulfikar Ali Barodawala whom the National Investigation Agency NIA had held in another case an official told PTIBarodawala was taken into custody from Mumbai on Tuesday and was later produced in a Pune court where the AntiTerrorism Squad ATS The agency told the court that he is the mastermind and the handler of the arrested suspectsBarodawala was in judicial remand in connection with a case being probed by the NIA when the ATS took him into its custody With his arrest the number of arrests made in the Pune terror suspects case has gone up to fiveHe was produced before a special court in Pune which remanded him in police custody till August 11 public prosecutor Vijay Fargade told PTIWhile seeking his ATS custody the prosecution told the court that as per the call data records he was in contact with the other four terror suspects including Mohammad Imran Mohammad Yunus Khan 23 and Mohammad Yunus Mohammad Yakub Saki 24Khan and Saki both wanted by the NIA for their alleged involvement in a terrorrelated case in Rajasthan were nabbed from Kothrud area in Pune on July 18 while stealing a motorcycleThe ATS later took over the probe from the Pune policeBarodawala is a mastermind who used to issue instructions and used to provide funds to the accused numbers 3 and 4 and they used to provide the same to accused number 1 and 2 said Fargade while seeking his custody in court reported PTIAccording to ATS accused number 3 is Qadir Dastgir Pathan who is accused of providing shelter to Khan and Saki in Pune while the fourth accused arrested from Ratnagiri whose name was not divulged by the agency is accused of providing financial aidMeanwhile sources close to the investigation said that Barodawala with the help of Khan and Saki had imparted training in making bombs to some people close to himThe ATS has already seized chemicals and lab equipment meant for making a bomb from a place where one of the two terror suspects arrested earlier this month had concealed themThe ATS earlier said that it has recovered the images of Chabad House one of the 2611 terror attacks sites in south Mumbai from the electronic devices of the two terror suspectsThe NIA last month claimed to have busted an ISIS module by arresting four suspects including Zulfikar Ali Barodawala In the same case the central agency had arrested Adnanali Sarkar a noted doctor from PuneThe suspects arrested by NIA were accused of promoting terrorist activities at the behest of ISIS a proscribed terrorist outfitWith inputs from PTI