New Delhi: Indian intelligence agencies are on high alert after a video surfaced showing terrorist Farhatullah Ghori calling on sleeper cells in India to carry out attacks on trains nationwide. Ghori, who is believed to be based in Pakistan, is reportedly responsible for orchestrating the Rameshwaram Cafe blast in Bengaluru earlier this year.
In the video, Ghori outlines methods for carrying out bomb attacks using pressure cookers and also suggests targeting petroleum pipelines and Hindu leaders. He criticises the Indian government’s efforts to weaken sleeper cells through actions by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), but vows to “return and shake the government.”
The Rameshwaram Cafe blast on March 1 injured at least 10 people. The NIA, which took over the investigation, arrested two key suspects, Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa and Mussavir Hussain Shazib, in April. They were allegedly members of an Islamic State (IS) module operating in Karnataka’s Shivamogga region.
Ghori, also known as Abu Sufiyan and Sardar Sahab, has been linked to several high-profile attacks in India, including the 2002 Akshardham Temple attack and the 2005 suicide bombing at the Task Force office in Hyderabad. He is believed to be orchestrating online jihadist recruitment with the support of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
