The Madhya Pradesh ATS is steadily tightening its grip on anti-national activities, and its latest interrogation has thrown up several startling details. While questioning Izhar Ul Haq, a suspected terrorist arrested from Madhubani in Bihar, the agency says it learned that alleged Pakistani handlers had assigned him the task of expanding their network within Bihar.
Links to an operator based in Pakistan
According to ATS sources, the questioning revealed that the arrested accused were in contact with Mufti Zainul Abdin, an alleged terror operator based in Pakistan. The probe found that he used Telegram and other social media platforms to send inflammatory audio messages, which were aimed at misleading young people and drawing them into his network.
Misleading claims spread through audio messages
The ATS says Mufti Zainul sent audio messages from Pakistan to Izhar, Naeem and Faraz, among other suspects. While sending inflammatory audio bites on Telegram, he would say, "Laying down your life for the glory of the Prophet is a matter of pride." The agency claims these messages were used to provoke sleeper cells active in India by feeding them misleading information about religious sites and other sensitive issues, in an attempt to prepare them for a larger conspiracy.
Izhar handled the supply of SIM cards
The interrogation also brought to light that Izhar Ul Haq allegedly arranged SIM cards for Pakistani agents. For this, SIM cards were bought from various districts of Bihar using different identity documents and Aadhaar cards. Investigators suspect that these SIM cards were then routed onward through Nepal.
Encrypted chats and deleted messages
The probe further found that the suspects were connected to their foreign contacts through encrypted platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp. To stay out of the agencies' reach, the chats were deleted the moment a conversation ended. The ATS is currently working to connect every link in the network and is hunting for other suspects tied to the sleeper cell. At the same time, it is closely examining the angle of alleged funding for terror activities.
