ATS nabs key accused of terror funding network from Sant Kabir Nagar
UP ATS arrests key accused in pan-India terror funding network linked to ISI. Zia-ul-Haq arrested from Khalilabad railway station in Sant Kabir Nagar district.
After chasing for over six months, UP anti-terror squad (ATS) on Friday arrested the key accused behind pan-India terror funding network who was exposed after the arrest of three persons from Punjab, Bihar and Ghaziabad in November last year, said senior ATS officials here on Saturday.
They said the key accused was arrested from Khalilabad railway station in Sant Kabir Nagar district when he was travelling towards Delhi.
The ATS officials confirmed that the accused was identified as Zia-ul-Haq, the resident of Jaukatiya village under Majholia police station limits of East Champaran district of Bihar. They said Haq’s involvement surfaced after the arrest of Punjab’s Bhatinda resident auto driver Amrit Pal Singh alias Amrit Gill (25) and UP’s Ghaziabad resident Riyaz-u-din, a wielder on November 25, 2023.
Earlier, the involvement of a Bihar’s Betiah resident Izharul Hussain, who was already lodged in Bettiah jail in Bihar, had surfaced first in the terror funding network as he operated the bank account of Riyaz-u-din through the suspicious transactions totaling around ₹ 75 lakh within a month.
The ATS officials said the investigation into the suspicious bank transaction unraveled the terror funding network allegedly operated by Pakistan’s secret agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). They said the detailed investigation revealed that the accused Zia-ul-Haq was the key person, who was in direct touch with ISI handlers and operated on their behest.
“Haq interacted to ISI handlers through WhatsApp installed on Nepali SIM card. Several people in India across different states were in touch with him through whom he used to collect crucial information of Indian Army and others to pass it on ISI. He used to get money to encourage terror and anti-national activities in India in return for which he uses bank accounts of different people,” the officials explained.
They said Haq is being brought to Lucknow ATS headquarters and produced before the competent court in Lucknow for further legal proceedings. They said he has been key accused in the FIR registered with the ATS police station in Lucknow under Indian Penal Code sections 121-A for planning to wage war against India, or attempts to wage such war, or abets the waging of such war and 120-B for hatching criminal conspiracy.
