Security officials believe that London attacker Khalid Masood was not a “lone wolf” and that others had played a key part in indoctrinating him and helping to carry out Wednesday’s deadly attacks.
The disclosure came as police detained 11 people in raids across the country with two of the arrests, including that of a woman, described as “significant” in the investigation. Three cars were also taken away for forensic examination. Police are still hunting associates of Masood who are believed to be linked to the Westminster attack, the Independent reported.
Media reports also revealed that 52-year-old had Masood used Whatsapp messaging service minutes before the attack.
While there is no evidence that anyone else accompanied Masood during the rampage in which he murdered four people, the timing and sequence of the radicalisation of Masood, born Adrian Elms, will, the law agencies believe, provide important pointers towards what unfolded.
Meanwhile, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in London has said that the Westminster attacker was in the country three times and taught English there. A statement released on Friday said Masood taught English in Saudi Arabia from November 2005 to November 2006 and again from April 2008 to April 2009. The embassy said he had a work visa. It says he returned for six days in March 2015. The embassy also said he wasn’t tracked by Saudi security services and didn’t have a criminal record there.
