Batley is urged to “pull together” after arrests

A Batley councillor has urged the community to “pull together” in the wake terror-related arrests.
Coun Shabir Pandor. (d03051295)Coun Shabir Pandor. (d03051295)
Coun Shabir Pandor. (d03051295)

A Sheffield man remains in police custody after dawn raids across Yorkshire in a Syria-related counter-terrorism investigation.

Four people were arrested – a 55-year-old woman and a 44-year-old man from Batley on suspicion of an offence under Section 15 of the Terrorism Act – terrorist fundraising; and two men from Sheffield, aged 40 and 36, on suspicion of an offence under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act – preparation to commit an act of terrorism.

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Coun Shabir Pandor (Batley West, Lab) said: “It’s a shock to everyone here in Batley.

“We need to pull together and get through this together. We’ve got a very good community network and something like this can actually be quite debilitating to the strong relationships.

“Any form of extremism is not wanted and we certainly don’t want this in Batley.”

North East Counter Terrorism Unit said the man and woman from Batley, and the 36-year-old from Sheffield were bailed pending further enquiries on Tuesday evening.

As part of the investigation, five properties in Sheffield, Batley and Dewsbury were searched. All five searches have now concluded, the Unit said.