The Gujarat anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Sunday claimed to have logged a major success with the arrest of an alleged Hizbul Mujahideen terror suspect, Bashir Ahmad Baba, 32, from Anand on Saturday night.

ATS chief Ajay Tomar said Bashir, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, had come to Gujarat last month to set up a local network for the Hizbul Mujahideen for recruiting and sending youths for terror training across the border. His handlers have been identified as Bilal Shera and ?General? Abdullah, both based in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). Bashir is also known as the ?Pepsi Bomber? for his ability to assemble improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in empty pepsi cans. ?Bashir came to Ahmedabad, with some associates, on the pretext of holding training sessions to run medical camps. He later sent his associates to other parts of Gujarat while he stayed on in Ahmedabad. He would often visit Anand to meet one of his contacts there, to set up a base and develop a wide network for Hizbul Mujahideen. He would call local boys to the camps and pick recruits for terror training in PoK,? said Tomar.

Asked if Bashir had actually managed to send any recruits from Gujarat so far, Tomar said the ATS had reason to suspect so, but it could only be confirmed after further investigations. ?He was here to get boys for training and possibly plot a terror strike, but his role in any attack ? the Mumbai terror attack or the Ahmedabad serial blasts ? needs to be probed. So far, the investigations have not linked him to either case,? he said. Bashir is reported to have lured youths with the promise of lucrative job opportunities and higher education facilities ? one ?recruit? is said to have been told that he would be sent for an MBA course in Pakistan. According to the ATS, Bashir went to Pakistan in 2006, taking along a youth named Arif Gilkar, for terror training. The ATS claimed Bashir had sent many Kashmiri youths to Pakistan.

?Soon after coming to Gujarat, Bashir called a couple of senior Hizbul commanders ? Bilal Shera and Abdullah. Bilal Shera is also a Kashmiri and has been staying in PoK for many years. Bilal is a close aide of Syed Salahuddin. Abdullah was earlier caught for terror activity in Kashmir but later escaped from a Srinagar hospital,? said Tomar.

With inputs from ENS, Srinagar