Noida: A youngster working at a mobile phone store in Chhijarsi village for the past month was among four men arrested by the Gujarat anti-terror squad (ATS) across states on Tuesday night on the suspicion that they were linked to the banned outfit Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

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The four accused – Mohammad Faiq, Mohammad Fardeen, Sefullah Kureshi and Zeeshan Ali – were arrested from Gujarat, Delhi and UP, Gujarat ATS said in a statement on Wednesday.

They were allegedly using social media as a tool to radicalise, recruit, and incite vulnerable individuals into adopting extremist ideologies and engaging in anti-national activities, the statement added.

A senior Noida police officer confirmed that Zeeshan, who belongs to Meerut, was nabbed after the ATS team did a reconnaissance operation in the NCR city and informed local cops.

Asked if there was any local intelligence about the suspected AQIS operative, Noida police officers denied having any information.

Locals in the village said it was concerning that Noida police did not know an operative of a banned terrorist organisation was in the area for a month. The mobile shop where Zeeshan worked was half a kilometre from the newly built Sector 63 police station.

“Zeeshan was working there for the last one month, but enforcement agencies had no clue.

Even local police and outpost cops had no information. A terrorist was living with us for the past one month and we were completely unaware,” a villager said.

The owner of the mobile shop, Sainik Communication, told TOI he had no idea that Zeeshan was involved in any illegal activity.

Mohammad Asad, the owner who lives in Ghaziabad’s Khoda Colony, said he hired Zeeshan because the youngster belonged to a village near his maternal hometown in Meerut.

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Asad’s brother-in-law Jan Mohammad, who sets up a clothes stall in front of the mobile shop, said Zeeshan didn’t work much even when he was at the store.

“Since Zeeshan was given the job because he was an acquaintance, Asad could not say much to him,” Jan said.

Asked about Zeeshan’s behaviour, Jan said he found it odd that the youngster would always step outside the mobile shop when he received a call.

“We do not know where and what work Zeeshan used to do before coming here.

But it never seemed from how he spoke and carried himself that he could be involved in anti-national activities,” Jan said.

On Tuesday, Jan said, the ATS team did not tell them why Zeeshan was being arrested.

“It was later, through the local police and media, that we came to know Zeeshan was arrested by the Gujarat ATS for being involved in terrorist activities,” Jan said.

According to the Gujarat ATS statement, the accused arrested in Tuesday’s operation were sharing Al-Qaida literature, radical posts and inflammatory videos on social media. Their online behaviour and group affiliations raised red flags for the team.

The four have been remanded to 14-day custody and charged under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.