Ricin terror plot: Gujarat ATS conducts searches at Dr Saiyed's Hyderabad house, seizes chemical

Three suspects arrested by the Gujarat ATS on November 9.

The Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad, probing the alleged Ricin chemical poison terror plot, conducted searches at the house of arrested doctor Ahmed Mohiyuddin Saiyed in Hyderabad and seized unidentified chemical and raw material, an official said on Wednesday.

Similar searches were conducted at the houses of two other arrested accused in Uttar Pradesh. However, nothing incriminating has been found so far, the official said, adding that no link has been established so far between Dr Saiyed and other doctors held in connection with the car blast in Delhi.

The ATS on Sunday claimed to have busted a suspected terror syndicate by arresting three persons, including Dr Saiyed, who was allegedly preparing 'Ricin' poison, and whose handler is associated with the Islamic State Khorasan Province.

Two others are identified as Azad Suleman Sheikh and Mohammad Suhail Mohammad Saleem.

The arrests led to the recovery of two Glock pistols, a Beretta pistol, 30 live cartridges and four litres of castor oil from Dr Saiyed, originally from Hyderabad, officials had said.

"As part of the investigation, a team of Gujarat ATS conducted a search operation at Saiyed's house in Rajendranagar area (of Hyderabad) on Tuesday and recovered a chemical and some raw material he has kept in his house to prepare an unknown substance," a senior ATS official said on Wednesday.

He said the seized chemical and other raw materials had been sent for forensic analysis.

"As of now, no connection has been found between Dr Saiyed and other doctors nabbed in connection with the recent bomb blast in Delhi," the official added.

He said nothing incriminatory material has been found in the searches carried out at the houses of two other arrested accused- Sheikh and Khan- in Uttar Pradesh.

Dr Saiyed, who holds a medicine degree from China, had been preparing a highly lethal poison named 'Ricin' to execute a major terrorist attack. He had begun the necessary research, procured the equipment and raw materials, and initiated the initial chemical processing, ATS DIG Sunil Joshi had told reporters on Sunday.

Ricin is a chemical poison and can be made from the waste material left over from processing castor beans.

Saiyed's handler, Abu Khadija, was a resident of Afghanistan associated with the ISKP (Islamic State Khorasan Province), and he has also been in contact with several individuals from Pakistan, Joshi had said.

The other two accused, Sheikh and Saleem, had allegedly procured weapons from Hanumangadh in Rajasthan and supplied them to Saiyed, according to ATS.

The trio was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, and the Arms Act. A court remanded Saiyed to ATS custody till November 17.