Suffered minor injury due to altercation: Gujarat govt on Ricin terror plot accused

Saiyed sustained facial injuries

Hours after reports emerged that the prime accused in the alleged Ricin terror plot Dr Ahmed Mohiyuddin Saiyed and others, was injured in a clash inside Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Central Jail on Tuesday, the Gujarat deputy chief minister Harsh Sanghvi said the accused suffered a minor injury due to an altercation with other inmates.

Assuring the media, Sanghvi said that the government is looking into the incident and ensured that the accused will have to face the law.

The incident happened less than 12 hours after he and two other suspects were moved to the high-security prison under judicial custody. According to Prison Superintendent Gaurav Agrawal, the scuffle broke out around 7 am inside the high-security enclosure where the three terror-accused were housed.

Saiyed sustained facial injuries after being punched in the eyes and nose by Nilesh Sharma, an Amraiwadi resident who is lodged for a theft offence, and two others, who are still unidentified, TOI reported.

According to the ATS, Saiyed had begun gathering raw materials such as castor oil and had started the initial stages of chemical processing. During a search at his Hyderabad home, officials recovered an unidentified chemical and related materials. These items have been sent for forensic examination. Searches at the homes of the other two accused in Uttar Pradesh allegedly did not yield any incriminating evidence.

Investigators also clarified that they have not found any link between Saiyed and the doctors arrested in connection with the recent car blast in Delhi.

Earlier, the ATS had said it recovered two Glock pistols, a Beretta handgun, 30 live cartridges and four litres of castor oil from Saiyed. The agency believes that he was being guided by an Afghanistan-based handler named Abu Khadija, who is linked to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). Saiyed was also allegedly in contact with individuals in Pakistan.