Suicide Squad Videos in Devices of Two Arrested IS Men from Bengal Keep Sleuths Worried

Kolkata, Jan 9 (IANS) Certain videos and still photographs relating to the activities of the suicide squad modules of terrorist outfit Islamic State (IS) have been recovered from the laptops and mobile phones of the two recently arrested IS activists, Mohammad Saddam and Syed Ahmed from West Bengal's Howrah district.

After raiding their respective residences in two different locations in Howrah district, the STF sleuths also recovered some additional electronic evidences and paper literatures, which also had contents about the suicide squad module activities.

Mohammad Saddam and Syed Ahmed were arrested on Saturday afternoon by the sleuths of the Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police while the two were on their way to attend a secret meeting at Khidirpur area in Kolkata. Earlier, the STF sleuths recovered from their devices, crucial clues on how the two, especially Mohammad Saddam, used to contact his IS handlers in Syria and Saudi Arabia using the Telegram Web medium.

City police sources said that the recovery of such crucial clues, especially the ones related to the videos and still photographs about the activities of the suicide squad modules of IS have kept the investigating sleuths worried.

The agencies are now mulling two possibilities, the first being whether these videos, still photographs and paper literature were used to circulate among the local youths to brainwash them into joining the banned terrorist force.

This possibility, according to city police sources, is also quite high considering that duirng interrogation both, Mohammad Saddam and Syed Ahmed, have admitted that they were responsible for brainwashing youths to join the IS and also arrange funds to spread their network in the state.

However, there is a second possibility that the investigating sleuths are probing about following the recovery of the documents related to the suicide squad module activities and that is whether the banned outfit has any plan to conduct similar suicide attacks in West Bengal.

Both the arrested activists are learnt to be extremely tech- savvy. While Mohammad Saddam is a qualified engineer, Syed Ahmed is a student of mechanical engineering at Aliah University. The latter was introduced to the terrorist model by Saddam.