19-year-old UP butcher who planned grenade attack on Ram temple arrested; report that Abdul Rehman received online training in terrorist attacks

NEW DELHI: Abdul Rehman (19), a native of Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, has been arrested for planning a grenade attack on the Ram temple in Ayodhya. He was taken into custody on Sunday night in Faridabad on the Delhi border. He was arrested in a joint operation conducted by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Palwal Special Task Force (STF) of Haryana according to information provided by the Intelligence Bureau. Two hand grenades were recovered.

He is an operative of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) module, which is linked to the Pakistani spy agency ISI. Butcher Abdul Rehman joined the terrorist network ten months ago. He took online training in terrorist attacks at his own shop in Milkipur. He participated in discussions about planned attacks. Rahman, who has studied only up to class 10, was given detailed instructions and missions through video calls. It is reported that a conspiracy to attack the Ram Temple was also planned during the virtual training sessions. As instructed, he roamed around the premises of the Ram Temple in an auto rickshaw at night. Several photos and videos of places of worship, including the Ayodhya temple, were found on his mobile phone. Abdul Rehman, who was remanded in custody by a Haryana court, was taken to Gujarat for detailed questioning.

Grenade found in Faridabad

• Abdul Rehman left his house last week saying that he was going to a religious gathering in Delhi. When he reached Faridabad, a person gave him grenades. He also asked Abdul Rehman to stay in Faridabad. The plan was to take a train to Ayodhya from there and carry out the attack.
• The grenades were kept in an old, uninhabited house in Pali village, 12 km from Faridabad. Security agencies are searching for others related to him.
• Rahul Singh, who has ISI connections, has been arrested from Balia in UP. The search is on for the female ISI agent named Ishika Kapoor, who is linked to Abdul Rehman and others.