Police say Waseem and Naeem Ramodiya were about to carry out “serial blasts to target some religious place in the State.”

Gujarat’s Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested two persons, Waseem and Naeem Ramodiya, claiming they are associated with the Islamic State (IS) group and were on a mission to carry out “serial blasts to target some religious place in the State.”

While Waseem was arrested from Rajkot, his brother was arrested from Bhavnagar.

According to ATS Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) K.K. Patel, the two were under the squad’s watch for more than a year. He claimed that they were in contact with IS operatives overseas through social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Telegram, an encrypted messaging app.

Sensitive material seized

The police also recovered “bomb-making material” such as gun powder, jihadi literature, masks and several mobile phones from them.

“They were prepared with all material to make bombs and planned to carry out blasts at religious places in the next few days,” Mr. Patel said, adding the prompt action by the police averted a major putative terror attack in the State.

According to the family details of the duo, they are sons of Rajkot based Arif Ramodia, a domestic cricket umpire, who recently retired from the Saurashtra University.

First such arrest in Gujarat

The police have registered a case and investigation is on. “We are investigating how they established links with the IS and who helped them in the process,” another senior official of the ATS said.

This is likely to be Gujarat’s first such arrest of people suspected to be linked with the international terror outfit, which has often vowed to expand its fight to India but has so far not met with any success.

However, there have been a few stray arrests made by the authorities at several places in the country, including a five-men module in Hyderabad that planned to attack a local police station.