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London police on Thursday said that they arrested a fifth British man on suspicions of “terrorism” after earlier saying that they had averted a “significant plot”.
The twenty-year-old man was arrested “on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism”, the Metropolitan Police said. The man was arrested on Tuesday along with four other people, but his arrest was not revealed “for operational reasons”, the police said.
“A number of residential addresses and vehicles were searched by specialist officers in West and Central London as part of the investigation. These searches are now complete”, it said in a statement.
The five people arrested are being detained in central London police stations; the police have warrants to hold them till October 14th. OF the other four, two are 21 and two are 20 years of age. According to the police, one of the 21-year-olds was struck by a taser during his arrest. British media reported that tasered 21-year-old was Tarik Hassane, a medical student, and said that he was arrested in a housing estate in the Ladbroke Grove neighborhood in West London.
According to the UK government’s estimates, around 500 British men have joined the ranks of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria. Government officials say that 103 people have been arrested so far this year returning from Syria; five of them have been convicted.
“These arrests and searches are part of an ongoing investigation into Islamist-related terrorism”, the police had said in a statement on Tuesday.
According to sources, officers believe that their raid disrupted a significant operation, described by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe as “quite serious”.
British Muslim human rights group CAGE condemned the police tactics used in arrest of Hassane and the “alarmist media reporting” on the case. It also said that the raid was “violent” and that “excessive force” was used.
“A door was broken down, stun grenades were thrown, and a taser used”, it said in a statement.
