Al-Qaeda operative alleged to have come to India to train Rohingyas arrested in Delhi

A Bangladeshi-British al-Qaeda operative who allegedly came to India to train Rohingya Muslims, was arrested last evening in Shakarpur, Delhi Police’s Special Cell said today.

A proficient hacker who received arms training, Subhan Haq has already radicalised several Rohingyas in Bangladesh during his four-year stint with the terrorist group.

Police said they recovered a pistol, four cartridges, a laptop, and foreign banknotes from the operative, who they said carried a Kishanganj (Bihar) voter ID.

Subhan Haq’s real name is Shami Ur Rahman. He received a formal education until Class 12, travelled to South Africa and Syria, and then joined al-Qaeda, police said.

Earlier today, the Narendra Modi government told the Supreme Court that many Rohingya refugees have links with terror organisations and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Refugees from the community present a major security threat, the Centre said in a 16-page affidavit.

The government said it feared the possibility of an eruption of violence against Buddhists living in India.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have left Buddhist-majority Myanmar since August 25, fleeing a military response to deadly attacks by Rohingya insurgents on police posts and an army camp.

While Myanmar says its forces are carrying out clearance operations against the insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, Rohingyas and rights monitors blame the exodus on what they say is a campaign aimed at driving out the Muslim population.

Rohingyas claim they’re natives of the Burmese province of Rakhine, but Myanmar does not consider them as citizens.

Al-Qaeda’s threat to India’s Hindus, Security Agencies

The terrorist group said in June that it would target Indian Hindu “separatist” organisations involved in the destruction of mosques and Muslims’ property and the killing or forced conversion of Muslims.

It also pledged to target the “leadership” of India’s military, police and “secret agencies,” and specifically, “those officers of the Indian military who have the blood of our Kashmiri brothers on their hands.”

Al-Qaeda said the Indian state was its “top priority, after American and Israeli targets,” but added that it’s objective wasn’t to attack “common” Hindus, Buddhists or people of other faiths.

It recently appointed former Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zakir Musa as its Kashmir chief.

Counter terrorism experts recently told American legislators that al-Qaeda was becoming more active in the Indian subcontinent – specifically, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.