A suspected agent of Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI has been arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district. Investigators allege he was tasked with smuggling weapons and explosives from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan and was part of a plot to carry out terrorist activities.
Who Is Shehraj Ahmed
Officials from the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorist Squad, or ATS, said the arrested man is 29 years old and has been identified as Shehraj Ahmed. He was taken into custody on Tuesday from Jamdhara village in Balrampur. Balrampur Superintendent of Police Vikas Kumar himself confirmed the arrest. ATS sources said Ahmed originally hails from Balrampur but had been living in Mumbai, where he worked in embroidery.
Recruited Through Facebook and Signal
The investigation found that Ahmed came into contact with operatives of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence, the ISI, through Facebook and the encrypted messaging platform Signal. Through this online contact he gradually began working for the agency. The ATS says he was being groomed to help orchestrate a terror conspiracy inside India.
Tasked With Bringing Weapons From Rajasthan
According to officials, Ahmed was assigned the job of bringing weapons and explosives from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan and delivering them to a terror network. Investigators suspect he was part of a larger conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks. A case has been registered at the ATS police station in Lucknow, and further legal proceedings and interrogation are underway to trace others linked to the network.
ED Raids Eight Locations in Karnataka
Separately on the same Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate, or ED, carried out a major operation in Karnataka, searching around eight locations in and around Bengaluru. The raids were conducted under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, or PMLA. The action forms part of a money laundering investigation tied to the radicalisation of youth for recruitment into the banned international terrorist organisation ISIS.
NIA Chargesheet Names Ikra Welfare Trust
The probe is linked to a National Investigation Agency, or NIA, FIR concerning ISIS recruitment. That case names the Ikra Welfare Trust, an outfit called Guidance For Mankind, and several individuals. The NIA has already filed a chargesheet against five people, alleging they were linked to the banned terrorist organisation ISIS, also known as ISIL or Daesh, and had conspired to radicalise impressionable Muslim youth in Bengaluru and induce them to join ISIS.
