IS link in Germany gurudwara blast? Investigation on
TNN & Agencies | Apr 22, 2016, 09.18 AM ISTIS link in Germany gurudwara blast? Investigation on
The dreaded Islamic State (IS) terror group may be linked to the explosion at a gurudwara in Germany's western city of Essen, media reported on Thursday quoting officials probing the attack.
Suspicions of an IS involvement in the Saturday blast at the Nanaksar Satsang Sabha Gurdwara, which occurred at the end of a marriage ceremony, have hardened following the arrest of two men in the nearby town of Gensenkirchen on Wednesday night.
Police in Essen on Thursday confirmed the arrest of the two men "after an intensive search". One of the two men identified by police as Yusuf T, an IS sympathiser, is now treated by investigators as the main suspect in the attack, ARD TV network reported. He is known to the authorities as an activist in the Islamist scene in the Ruhr region of North Rhine Westphalia and has been actively involved in a campaign to distribute free copies of the Quran in the German-speaking region organised by a radical Salafist sect of Islam.
According to Gurjit Singh, Indian ambassador to Germany, the police released two pictures of men with backpacks who were believed to have been connected to the attacks. It was after the authorities found pictures with clear views of the faces of the suspects that they launched their manhunt.
Two other men had been detained earlier, but were released after it transpired they were not connected.
The state prosecutor's office had announced a 5,000 reward for information leading to their arrests. A 60-year-old Sikh priest was among three people injured in the blast at the entrance hall of Gurdwara Nanaksar as a wedding ceremony was ending on Saturday. The police in Essen said in their statement they were focusing their investigation on the possibility that the explosive device was planted inside the foyer of the gurdwara or lobbed into it from outside.
Gurjit Singh told TOI, "The German authorities have been following this case closely. At every stage they have kept us informed on the developments, even before they went public."
The photo of a black-clad man with a backpack was tweeted out for public response.
Suspicions of an IS involvement in the Saturday blast at the Nanaksar Satsang Sabha Gurdwara, which occurred at the end of a marriage ceremony, have hardened following the arrest of two men in the nearby town of Gensenkirchen on Wednesday night.
Police in Essen on Thursday confirmed the arrest of the two men "after an intensive search". One of the two men identified by police as Yusuf T, an IS sympathiser, is now treated by investigators as the main suspect in the attack, ARD TV network reported. He is known to the authorities as an activist in the Islamist scene in the Ruhr region of North Rhine Westphalia and has been actively involved in a campaign to distribute free copies of the Quran in the German-speaking region organised by a radical Salafist sect of Islam.
According to Gurjit Singh, Indian ambassador to Germany, the police released two pictures of men with backpacks who were believed to have been connected to the attacks. It was after the authorities found pictures with clear views of the faces of the suspects that they launched their manhunt.
Two other men had been detained earlier, but were released after it transpired they were not connected.
The state prosecutor's office had announced a 5,000 reward for information leading to their arrests. A 60-year-old Sikh priest was among three people injured in the blast at the entrance hall of Gurdwara Nanaksar as a wedding ceremony was ending on Saturday. The police in Essen said in their statement they were focusing their investigation on the possibility that the explosive device was planted inside the foyer of the gurdwara or lobbed into it from outside.
Gurjit Singh told TOI, "The German authorities have been following this case closely. At every stage they have kept us informed on the developments, even before they went public."
The photo of a black-clad man with a backpack was tweeted out for public response.
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