Pak-born author Tarek Fatah was terror target: Police

Pakistan-born liberal author Tarek Fatah, a Shia worship place in Uttar Pradesh and a crowded area in Haridwar in Uttarakhand were among the targets of the four terror suspects held in a multi-state operation last week, police said in Lucknow on Tuesday.

The terrorists wanted to target Fateh, a Canadian national who often visits India, to create a sensation across the world, Senior Superintendent of Police of anti-terrorism squad Umesh Kumar Srivastava said.

He was the target as he is seen as opposing the Shariat law and advocates liberal and progressive form of Islam, Srivastava said.

"However, the self-radicalised terror suspects eventually realised that it was not easy to target the author, so they went ahead with an alternative plan to target other places and persons in order to make their presence felt," he added.

The four terror suspects are Umar alias Nazim (arrested from Mumbai), Mufti alias Faizan (arrested from Bijnor in UP), Zaqwan alias Ehtesham (arrested from Narkatiaganj in Bihar) and Ghazi Baba (arrested from Jalandhar in Punjab).

"The terror suspects had even planned to target a Shia worship place in Amroha (in UP)," a senior UP ATS officer said.

Police said an alert has been sounded in Amroha, Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar after "revelations" made by Mufti and Zaqwan.

The suspects had also planned a bomb attack at a crowded place in Haridwar, a popular pilgrim town in Uttarakhand.

"Plans were also made to eliminate a poice officer in Mumbai and set afire a sugar mill in Narkatiyaganj," he said.

Mufti and Zaqwan were on Saturday taken on eight-day remand by ATS for quizzing.

Umar and Ghazi Baba were produced in the court of special chief judicial magistrate in Lucknow on Monday after they were brought to Lucknow on transit remand.

The court sent them to judicial custody till May 4, police said.