Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested five persons in connection with its probe into a terror module of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit.

The arrested persons were identified as Bilal Abidbhai Shera, Mohammad Ayub Kadiwala, Mohammad Palanpuri alias Khali Ayub Sunsara, Shafia Rais Mukhti and Mohammad Hasan Kardia. They were apprehended from Khadiyal village in Siddhpur taluka of Patan district.

The officials said the five accused were held after their names surfaced during the investigation of eight alleged JeM operatives held earlier this month. The five were produced before Judicial Magistrate R M Bhatia at Kadi town in Mehsana district, which remanded them in ATS custody till July 24.

Public Prosecutor PR Dantani said the ATS sought custodial interrogation after telling the court that one of the accused had attempted to make a time bomb and that bomb-making material as well as JeM literature in Urdu were yet to be recovered.

Mr Dantani told reporters that their names came up during the investigation. He said ATS also wanted to ascertain where the bomb-making material was procured from, where it was concealed, and how the accused obtained jihadi books linked to JeM and where those books were hidden.

According to Mr Dantani, the accused had attempted to test a crude time bomb, but the experiment was unsuccessful. He further said one of the eight persons arrested earlier, identified as Amin, had allegedly supplied JeM material to the newly arrested accused, while another accused knew the method of making bombs.

On July 3, the Gujarat ATS arrested eight alleged members of the banned Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed from different parts of Gujarat and adjoining Madhya Pradesh. Police had said the accused were attempting to establish an active terror network in Gujarat.