Sitting Member of Parliament (MP) from Gorakhpur and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yogi Adityanath on Thursday termed that the arrest of two suspected Pakistani terrorists as a matter of concern, and asked why the state and the central governments were not taking strong steps to contain such elements who are using the India-Nepal border to launch strike on India.
"I had raised the issue of terrorists from the Indian Mujahideen and the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen using India's porous border with Nepal. It is unfortunate that all my calls have fallen on deaf ears as the Central Government is yet to take any decisive decision. If intelligence agencies are to be believed, then there is news of terrorists trying to attack BJP leaders, and both the state and central governments are not taking this seriously. Hence, these terrorists are getting more emboldened. That these two terrorists who have been caught from Gorakhpur were targeting Narendra Modi and were planning a big terrorist strike is a case in point," Yogi Adityanath said.
Yogi Adityanath's reaction came a day after the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) has confirmed the arrest of two suspected terrorists believed to be from Pakistan, and also recovered a huge cache of weapons from them in Gorakhpur.
The two suspects, identified as Murtaza and Owais, came to Gorakhpur 15 days ago from Nepal, and were allegedly planning to target an "unarmed gathering of people".
According to a television report, the two suspects links with the Indian Mujahideen was confirmed after they recognized a photograph of the group's co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal, who is believed to be in Pakistan and known as "Tauseef".
This is the third terror-related arrest after the Special Cell of the Delhi Police arrested the Indian Mujahideen's India commander Tehseen Akhtar alias Monu. In August last year, police arrested IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal. Last Sunday, they arrested another suspected IM operative, Zia-ur-Rehman alias Waqas, in Ajmer, Rajasthan.