MP court sends terror suspect Faizan Sheikh to 14 days judicial custody

Bhopal : A district court in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday sent terror suspect Faizan Sheikh, who was arrested by the Madhya Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) from Khandwa last week, to 14 days judicial custody.

Sheikh, 30, was produced before the court amid tight security after his six days of police custody expired on Tuesday.

He was arrested from his residence in Khandwa on July 4 and has been booked under the UAPA. Police had claimed that Sheikh was planning to carry out a "lone wolf" attack on security forces.

A mechanic by profession, he was learning through online resources how to make bombs, sources said.

During the police custody, he was interrogated by the ATS as well as the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the sources told IANS, adding that the central probe agency is keen to take over the case.

Forensic experts are trying to recover deleted data from his phone to uncover his plans and motives.

According to police, Sheikh allegedly sought connections with banned terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM). He was heavily influenced by Yasin Bhatkal, a co-founder of IM, and reportedly visited his village in Karnataka multiple times in the past few years.

Sheikh was driven by a desire to "avenge" the 2016 encounter deaths of eight SIMI suspects following a jailbreak in Bhopal, and has admitted to recceing Army locations in Kashmir (including Pathankot), Mumbai, and Delhi over the past three years, the sources said.

Police said that the four mobile phones seized from him showed repeated searches for videos of terrorist training camps and their operational methods.

Following his arrest, the ATS also recovered a pistol, along with a significant amount of "jihadi literature" linked to IM and ISIS, and a SIMI membership form.

He will be produced before the court for the next hearing on July 22.