Three held for ‘planning’ terror strikes in Hyderabad have terrifying track-record

HYDERABAD: Three persons from the city, Mohd Abdul Khaleem, Abdul Zahed and Maaz Hasan Farooq, who were arrested recently for planning to carry out lone wolf attacks and massive blasts in the city, have been involved in terror activities in the past.

Khaleem and Zahed, who were acquitted in the case pertaining to suicide bombing at the Old Task force office in Begumpet in 2005, teamed up with Farooq, who along with three others, were caught while attempting to travel to Syria and join the ISIS. They came back to the city to unleash destruction, police sources alleged.

While the acquittal has come as a blessing in disguise for Khaleem and Zahed, the deradicalisation and the case registered against him did not bring about any change to Farooq’s fortunes.

Khaleem was accused of supplying ammonium nitrate, used for making the bomb, and for bringing along Dalin, the suicide bomber from Bangladesh, for the suicide blast that occurred on Dasara day. Further, police had then seized bombs, desktop computers and electric material used for making bombs from Zahed.

However, how Khaleem procured ammonium nitrate was not proved before the court, which said that the material seized from Zahed were not at all connected with the bomb that had exploded at the task force office. Hence their acquittal.