Aurangabad: A youth from Aurangabad on Saturday alerted the city police that the ISIS suspect arrested from Parbhani had parked a bike at his house in the city last month.
The 26-year-old youth, a resident of Champa Chowk area, on Saturday met police commissioner Amitesh Kumar. He informed that one of the two ISIS suspects from Parbhani arrested by the state anti-terrorism squad was his friend and the suspect had parked a bike at his home sometime in June.
"Prima facie, it appears that the youth who has approached us and shown trust in the law enforcement agencies, is 99% innocent. Nothing can be said unless and until a detailed probe is carried out on the information provided by him," said Kumar.
The officer said the bike seems to have been stolen as it was bearing Aurangabad registration number. On conducting further checks, it was found the the motorcycle was stolen from the neighbouring district of Jalna.
The ATS recently arrested Naser Bin Abu Bakr Yafai (31) and Mohammed Shahed Ali Khan Qader Ali Khan (24), both from Parbhani, on the charges of preparing an Improvised Explosive Device and preparing to strike on the instructions of their suspected handler, an ISIS commander.
"I came in contact with Mohammed Shahed Ali, when we both were employed with a local telecom service provider about two to three years back. Since then, we have remained in touch on and off," the youth told TOI.
He added, "Shahed contacted me sometime in June and asked me to keep a bike, which he claimed was his and informed me that he would come and collect it whenever he needs it. I agreed to it and kept the bike. I was shocked when I read the news of his arrest."
After ascertaining that it was indeed his friend, who had been arrested, he decided to approach Aurangabad city police to reveal the details of his contact with Shahed.
Police officials said that on checking the details of the bike, the crime branch authorities have found that it has a forged registration plate and it was stolen from the Jalna district.
After taking the incident on police record, ATS teams were alerted and were in the process of recording the youth's statement till late evening. "The revelations made by the youth are startling. They clearly indicate that the suspect had already made preparations for carrying out blast at Aurangabad. Most of the stolen bikes and vehicles are used for similar kind of anti-social and anti-national activities," a senior ATS officer said.
The officer also said that though prima facie the information provided by the youth appears to be true, they were checking the veracity of his claims.
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