Agency says Pakistani gangster lured youths through social media AI generated image Mumbai: In one of the biggest coordinated counter-terror operations in recent months, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) carried out simultaneous raids and searches at dawn across the state in which around 112 persons were quizzed for their alleged social media links with a Pakistan-based alleged ISI handler-cum-mafiosi Shahzad Bhatti, officials said. According to the ATS, an undisclosed number of personnel drawn from all its 14 units in the state launched synchronised swoops with Friday morning ‘knocks’ at the homes and other locations of those suspects identified in the ongoing probe. As per a preliminary probe, Bhatti, along with his alleged associates, Abid Jaat alias Abid Chal, Ajmal Gujar, Mohammad Memon, Rana Hussain, Ashraf Basheer Alam and others, attempted to establish a network among youngsters through social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and WhatsApp, they said. The accused allegedly circulated provocative religious content to influence youths, particularly those who were unemployed, and lured them with promises of financial assistance in an attempt to involve them in activities such as information gathering, drugs and arms smuggling, an official said. The immediate purpose behind the action was to verify the nature of the purported links of these persons with Bhatti ostensibly through various social media platforms and to collect more concrete evidence. The ATS operation comes barely two days after the Delhi Police Special Cell claimed to have busted two alleged modules purportedly linked to Bhatti and arrested six suspected operatives from the country’s national capital and Punjab. The Maharashtra ATS carried out the searches in Bandra, Kurla and Jogeshwari (Mumbai); Navi Mumbai; Bhayander and Mira Road (Thane); Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar; Sangli; Satara; and certain other locations around the state. It is considered as a run-up to the security preparations ahead of the upcoming 79th Independence Day celebrations on Aug. 15. Online Interactions ATS officials revealed that the investigation centres around establishing and verifying whether the online interactions of these 112 persons were casual or could point to a deeper network with wider ramifications. The ATS suspects that Bhatti and his cohorts may be allegedly exploiting social media platforms to lure and influence youngsters towards anti-national or subversive activities. Remaining tight-lipped on the outcome, the officials pointed out that the probe is still continuing and further details are expected to emerge after the statements and evidence are scrutinized. The Delhi Police had said that, acting at Bhatti’s behest, the six arrested suspects had allegedly conspired to perpetrate ‘petrol bomb’ strikes at key locations in the national capital. Reported Recce Among various sites, these persons reportedly carried out a recce of the New Police Lines in Civil Lines, the Anand Vihar Inter-State Bus Terminal, a major railway station and certain crowded market areas. Videos of these and other locations were recovered from the mobile phones of the accused and were allegedly routed to Bhatti via some banned messaging app and 10 others with whom they are said to be linked. With this, the Delhi Police claimed to have busted a Pakistan-backed terror and arms-smuggling syndicate linked to Bhatti through coordinated multi-state raids spanning Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, and thwarted major planned attacks in these regions. The social media chats recovered show Bhatti reportedly giving instructions to one of the suspects, Danish alias Chand Miyan, pertaining to the delivery and storage of some ‘material’, which the Delhi Police sleuths claim could refer to petrol bombs. Earlier, the investigators had found petrol bombs from the vicinity of Vijay Ghat – the resting place of India’s second PM, Lal Bahadur Shastri. The Delhi accused were assigned different roles, including recces of key targets, ferrying and selling weapons, besides distributing consignments allegedly dropped into India by drones. The police are probing the wider cross-border conspiracy, the role of other Pakistan-based handlers and their associates and modules in India.
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