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‘Trip’, ‘pen’, ‘juice’, ‘project’: Coded WhatsApp chats in AQIS-linked group; 19-year-old held
Senior ATS officials said the coded communication was being examined to establish whether the terminology was deliberately developed to conceal the nature of conversations and whether the same code was being understood and used by other members of the network.
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The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Saturday arrested a 19-year-old Azamgarh man for allegedly promoting the ideology of banned terrorist organisation Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and attempting to radicalise and recruit young people through social media, senior ATS officials said.
Words such as “trip”, “pen”, “juice” and “project” allegedly became codes in a WhatsApp network used by the accused, Mohammad Nabeel, to communicate about jihad, weapons, chemicals and operational planning, according to senior Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) officials.
According to a press note shared with the media, Nabeel had created a WhatsApp group named “La Ghalib Illallah”, in which he allegedly addressed other members as “mujahideen”.
Investigators found that members did not always use direct references while discussing activities, but instead relied on apparently innocuous words.
According to the ATS, “trip” was used as a reference to jihad and “pen”, “juice” and “project” for knives, chemicals and planning respectively.
Senior ATS officials said the coded communication was being examined to establish whether the terminology was deliberately developed to conceal the nature of conversations and whether the same code was being understood and used by other members of the network.
The digital trail has assumed significance as investigators examine Nabeel’s alleged links with multiple groups and individuals, including members based outside India.
The ATS claimed Nabeel was also associated with several other WhatsApp groups, including “Flames of War”, where members allegedly included people from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Saudi Arabia.
Officials said investigators were examining his interactions with members of these groups to determine the extent of the alleged network and whether the groups were being used merely for ideological propagation or for recruitment and other activities.
The examination of Nabeel’s phone also allegedly revealed the circulation of extremist literature. The ATS said he had shared a book attributed to Al Qaeda ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki titled “44 Ways to Support Jihad” and appealed to members to read it.
He had also allegedly shared “The Third World War and Dajjal”, attributed to former AQIS chief Maulana Asim Umar, officials said.
The ATS claimed that conversations recovered from the device went beyond ideological material and included discussions about travelling to Pakistan, Turkey and Bangladesh for training.
Investigators also allegedly found discussions relating to bomb-making and obtaining potassium nitrate. The ATS further claimed that Nabeel and his associates had discussed working with Pakistan to carry out “Ghazwa-e-Hind” against India.
Officials said the probe was now focused on identifying other members involved in the conversations, decoding the terminology used by them and verifying whether discussions about training, explosives and other activities translated into any concrete preparations.
Nabeel, a resident of Chitara Mahmudpur village in Azamgarh, was booked at the ATS police station in Lucknow under sections 152 and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and sections 18 and 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The ATS said he was produced before a court for further legal proceedings.
The alleged coded vocabulary has provided investigators with another line of inquiry as they seek to establish whether Nabeel was an individual propagator or part of a wider AQIS-linked network operating through encrypted and closed online groups.
