The three attackers who perpetrated the attack in the London Bridge area on Saturday might have been neutralized withing eight minutes by the British Police, but disturbing news has now emerged that the police were aware of the Activities of one of the attackers. Law enforcement agencies in the UK are going to face embarrassment due to this lapse that has led to loss of lives in the capital.
A known London extremist
The terror attacks in London on Saturday night had been reported to the authorities by at least two members of the public in the past.
One woman, named Erica Gasparri, said she went to the police a couple of years ago after coming to know that the man in question had been sharing extremist views with children at a park.
According to most reports, the man used to go for regular prayers at his local mosques and was married with two children. However, he soon become a religious extremist over the passage of time. Another man, thought to be an estranged friend had also reported to the police that the man had discussed different aspects of ISIS backed attacks with him. Speaking today, he said that the man had also been a regular viewer of speeches delivered by notorious hate preacher Ahmad Musa Jibril.
British Police knew him
In addition to the fact that the extremist tendencies of the man had been reported by two separate people, there is something else that should leave the police in the area red faced.
British television network ITV had made a show titled 'Jihadi Next Door' last year and in one of the episodes, the man is seen praying with other suspected Jihadis. In fact, in the same documentary he had also been detained by the police.
So, in spite of so many red flags over one individual, he managed to carry out an attack in the capital and that is undeniably going to be a bitter pill to swallow for the security establishment in London.
Additionally, the estranged friend also said that he did everything he could to alert the police to the possible dangers of having such a man on the loose. However, his requests fell on deaf ears.
Speaking to The Guardian, he said “I spoke to the gentleman (at the terror hotline). I told him about our conversation and why I think he was radicalised.” He added, “I did my bit, I know a lot of other people did their bit but the authorities did not do their bit.” One can only hope that the police would be far more careful with such reports in the future and question the suspects immediately.
