Four terror suspects including a British Pakistani were arrested by the police in London raids as part of anti-terror operation, Daily Mail reported.
The 29-year-old British Pakistani Naveed Baluch, a butcher who had recently returned from a visit to his wife in Pakistan, was arrested after police smashed down the door of his local authority flat in Peckham, south-east London, on the evening of October 13.
Officers also searched six addresses across London as part of an operation to simultaneously detain a group of suspected terrorists. It was feared that an attack similar to the Kenyan mall massacre was being planned on British soil.
The other three suspects were a 28-year-old British Azerbaijani, a 25-year-old British Turkish and a 25-year-old British Algerian.
According to Scotland Yard, the detainees were held because of suspicion that they were involved in acts of terrorism and were being interrogated at a south London police station.
“We believe they posed a threat to the public. That doesn’t necessarily mean an attack was imminent,” a police source had said.
Baluch’s 30-year-old sister Gulsabah a saleswoman from Dulwich, had said she was shocked.
She had stated, “He plays football every Sunday and supports Chelsea… He doesn’t go to the mosque and isn’t even religious so I’m shocked if this is true.”
Eyewitnesses had also emerged as the operation continued.
The Evening Standard had reported the Metropolitan Police was acting on intelligence that the men had access to firearms.
