Al Qaeda operative held in Bangalore

Following the Pathankot terror attack, intelligence agencies have increased vigilance all over the country. The National Investigation Agency has arrested a Muslim cleric, Anzar Shah, on his alleged links with Al Qaeda in Bangalore. It was in fact Anzar Shah's family that had lodged a missing complaint with the police at Kumaraswamy police station. On investigation, it was found that the cleric had gone to Mecca masjid located at Ilyas Nagar to meet the cleric there. Anzar is a mulla of Banashankari mosque. The investigation showed his Al Qaeda links. In all, four people have been arrested so far with alleged Al Qaeda links. The Al Qaeda links surfaced in the country only last month. The head of Al Qaeda unit, Sanaul Haq, belongs to a family of freedom fighters in Sambhal, situated 200 km from New Delhi. Haq's background came to light during the interrogation of Mohammed Asif, the training and recruitment chief of Al Qaeda in the Indian Sub-continent (AQIS). While Mohammed Asif was held from Seelampur in north-east Delhi, another Al Qaeda operative, Abdul Rahman, was nabbed in the Jagatpur area of Cuttack in Odisha in December last. Its Bangalore operative, Anzar Shah, was nabbed in Bangalore.