London: A close aide of Usman Khan, the convicted terrorist from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir shot dead during Friday’s terror attack, has been arrested on suspicion of terror plots even as the London Bridge was opened to traffic and pedestrians amid heavy police presence, Monday.
Nazam Hussain’s family also came from the same village in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as Usman Khan and had been together found guilty of terrorism offences for a plot to bomb the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and set up a PoK terrorist training camp in the guise of a madrassa in 2012.
Both Khan and Hussain were planning to travel to PoK in 2011 but were arrested by security forces in coordinated raids in December 2010 as their nine-member gang was busted. Counter-terrorism officers arrested 34-year-old Hussain over the weekend from Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, the central England region where Usman Khan also hailed from.
“Staffordshire Police continue to carry out further enhanced neighbourhood patrols to reassure local communities following the incident which took place here Friday and the arrest of a man last (Sunday) night in Stoke-on-Trent by West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit in connection to a wider ongoing review of existing licence conditions of convicted terrorism offenders,” said Staffordshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Nick Baker.
“People will be aware that the man who carried out the attack in London was living in Staffordshire. Two properties in the county continue to be searched and cordons remain in place at these locations as detectives and forensic officers continue with their investigation,” added Baker.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson broke from General Election campaigning to attend a vigil in Guildhall Yard here in memory of the two victims of Friday’s terrorist strike, when Khan went on a rampage with two knives before being overpowered by members of the public and being shot by a police officer.
The Islamic State (IS) terror group claimed responsibility for the knife-attack. The group via its propaganda Amaq news agency said Saturday that the attack was carried out by ‘a fighter from the Islamic State’, according to the ‘Site Intelligence Group’, which monitors jihadist activities.
Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, both students of the University of Cambridge, were killed at a university-linked ‘Learning Together’ prisoner rehabilitation conference at London Bridge, which was attended by Khan as a prisoner out on early release from jail with an electronic tag. Friends and family also paid tribute to the two victims at a vigil in the town of Cambridge as a minute’s silence was held in their memory Monday morning.
Agencies