Plot To Bomb Toronto Financial District Leads To Arrest Of Pakistan Man, Alleged To Be ISIS Daesh Supporter
Officials from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, said on Wednesday it had thwarted a plot by a Pakistani man alleged to be a supporter of the radical extremists ISIS Daesh to bomb the U.S. consulate and other buildings in Toronto's financial district.
Police learned understood the man’s plan when he tried to recruit an undercover officer, he was later identified as Jahanzab Malik. Malik had reportedly lived in Canada since 2004. His plan was to plant bombs inside the U.S. consulate and other buildings that he will remotely detonate. Toronto is Canada’s financial centre. The country’s main stock exchange is located there.
At a deportation hearing on Wednesday, officer Jessica Lourenco from the Canada Border Services Agency, or CBSA, said Malik’s plan was very much elaborate. She said his plot included “discussing with the undercover officer the video message they would leave behind in order to inspire others.”
Arrested on Monday, Malik has yet to be charged with any criminal offences. He is however being mulled to be deported on grounds of being a danger to security. The Immigration and Refugee Board, or IRB, had ordered him detained pending the CBSA investigation. Malik is not a Canadian citizen. The hearing of his deportation process can take months.
The RCMP said it took particular interest on Malik when, during investigations, they saw he had a record of travel to Pakistan. When he landed on April 3, 2013 at Toronto’s Pearson airport, he reportedly told border officers he had been teaching in Libya. CBSA, however, said it determined he allegedly underwent combat training in the North African desert.
According to CBSA, undercover RCMP officer contacted Malik about installing hardwood floors in his house. The alleged ISIS Daesh supporter works as a flooring contractor in Canada. The undercover agent pretended that he had participated in the Balkans civil war. CBSA said the two talked about religion, about wherein Malik allegedly confirmed he supported al-Qaida and ISIS Daesh. "Mr. Malik attempted to radicalize the undercover officer by showing him videos, apparently of ISIL beheadings," the IRB told Reuters.
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