NewDelhi: Sources in the intelligence agency have revealed that Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist – identified as Abdul Naeem Sheikh – arrested from Lucknow may have had two senior BJP leaders as his targets ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections next month.
While security has been tightened in the state, sources reveal intelligence agencies had ‘specific information’ about Naeem Sheikh being in touch with handlers in Lahore and having two senior BJP politicians on his hitlist. He reportedly even visited Kashmir where he had carried out a recce mission involving some vital installations, including Army camps and power projects.
It is also suspected that the help of a sleeper cell in Lucknow may have been taken to target Gujarat in a bid to create panic either before or during polling. The terrorist, alongwith his aides, were receiving constant instructions from LeT handlers back in Pakistan.
Naeem Sheikh – hailing from Maharashtra’s Aurangabad – is an accused in the 2006 Aurangabad Arms Haul case. He had previously escaped from Chattisgarh in 2014 and may have been in hiding in Bangladesh.
Last month, it was also reported that Pakistan’s notorious spy agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) may target Gujarat ahead of electionshere. Unique identification devices and documents seized by the Pakistani Coastguard officials from four Indian fishermen early October, it is feared, may be misused as ISI attempts to support terror outfits from its soil to carry out 26/11-like attacks.
On October 25, the Gujarat ATS had even arrested two suspected ISIS terrorists from Surat.
Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14, and PM Narendra Modi is currently holding rallies across the state.
Bureau Report
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