Saifullah Was Self-Radicalised, Self-Funded, Says UP ATS

• One of the Ujjain-Bhopal train blast suspects Saifullah was killed by UP ATS in Lucknow’s Thakurganj area
  
• Three others were arrested in areas around Kanpur on Wednesday
  
• UP police officials had earlier claimed that Saifullah and others were linked to an active ISIS module
  
• Later, ATS ADG Daljeet Choudhary said that there was no evidence to prove the ISIS link
  
• Saifullah’s father has refused to accept his body and called him a “traitor”
  

At a media briefing on Wednesday, ATS ADG Law and Order Daljeet Choudhary said that the authorities have no evidence to link the suspected terrorists – Imran, Danish, Saifullah and Faisal – to any active module of the ISIS.

He also revealed that the four wanted to identify themselves as the ISIS Khoran Moudle and that they learned to make bombs using online resources.

The investigation into the encounter in Lucknow, where a suspected ISIS terrorist was killed, is likely to be handed over to the NIA, a senior Home Ministry official said on. Wednesday.

In all likelihood, the Lucknow case will be given to the National Investigation Agency for probe, the official said.

The move came after the Home Ministry officials got the hint that there maybe a much larger conspiracy and more people in multiple locations might have links with Saifullah, who was killed in the encounter.

An NIA team has reached Bhopal to look into the suspected terror attack.

Sartaj, the father of the suspected ISIS terrorist who was killed in an anti-terror operation near Lucknow, said on Wednesday that he did not want anything to do with Saifullah’s mortal remains.

Saifullah was killed in a house on the outskirts of Lucknow after a 12-hour long operation by the Uttar Pradesh’s unit of the Anti Terrorism Squad. An Islamic State flag, eight pistols, 650 rounds of ammo, gold, SIM cards, cash, passports, a train timetable and explosive materials were seized from the house where Saifullah was holed up.

Expressing disappointment at his son’s actions, Sartaj said that he could not accept “a traitors body.”

Police suspect that Saifullah was involved in the 7 March blast in a Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train.

Speaking to the media, UP’s Additional Director General of Police said that Saifullah was a “hardened criminal,” who fired around 60 rounds of ammo on the commandos.

Also Read: Lucknow Siege: Terrorist Slain, ISIS Flag, Train Timetable Found

Raids were conducted in different cities of UP, including Etawah and Kanpur, after the police force received inputs from Telangana regarding the terror suspects involved in the Bhopal-Ujjain train blast on Tuesday.

Two suspected terrorists were arrested and taken to Lucknow by a team of the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad for further questioning.

Searches for the other terror suspects are also underway.

Superintendent of Police (Kanpur City) Somen Verma said a team of UP ATS left for Lucknow with the two terror suspects at around 3am on 8 March, for further questioning.

Also Read: Lucknow Siege Ends, Alleged ISIS Khorasan Terror Suspect Dead

Speaking to reporters after the anti-terror operation, IG ATS Aseem Arun said: "Efforts were made to catch the suspected terrorist (identified as Saifullah) alive, but unfortunately this did not materialise. We fired tear gas shells and chilly bombs but he did not come out."

The ATS commandoes then stormed inside the house (after issuing a warning to the terrorist), Arun said.