Police in Gujarat today claimed they busted a Lashkar-e-Toiba cell which was active across the country. The Detection of Crime Branch, which has so far arrested four persons in this connection, said it’s a “pan-national module of the LeT linked to similar modules in J&K, Patna, Aurangabad, Lucknow, Bhopal and Hyderabad”.

The DCB, which arrested and interrogated two alleged LeT members Iliyas Memon and Khalid Kashmiri in Ahmedabad yesterday, made two more arrests today: Kari Mufidul and Sirajuddin Ansari were picked up from Surat and Ahmedabad respectively.

The police claimed the module was involved in recruiting, indoctrinating and preparing youths for terror training, allegedly in Bangladesh camps. While Mufidul was a teacher in Surat district’s Tadkeshwar madrasa, Ansari lived in Marwadi-ni-Chali in Ahmedabad’s Rakhial area.

Police described Khalid Kashmiri as “a prize catch” because he is the younger brother of Aslam alias Imran Kashmiri, wanted by Maharashtra police for setting up a LeT module in Aurangabad. Police claimed the module had recruited a few youths from Gujarat for training, but refused to identify them.

Iliyas is said to be a close ally of Aslam. Police claimed Iliyas and Khalid told them that their network was spread across Ahmedabad, Kheda, Anand, Surat, Bharuch, Godhra, Bhopal, Aurangabad, Lucknow, Patna, Hyderabad and Jammu & Kashmir. They are in police remand till October 1.

Kari Mufidul, who worked under Aslam for eight years, was the one who allegedly supplied CDs of provocative lectures, riots and literature to him and Bashir Kashmiri. A computer CPU and CDs, one featuring Jaish chief Maulana Masood Azhar, have been seized from Mufidul’s residence and are being scanned.

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