Police suspect a Qatar-based Indian behind hoax messages

A man from Uttar Pradesh in Qatar sent hoax messages threatening a 26/11 attack if a Pakistani woman did not return to her country. He is the prime suspect in the recent threat messages and had previously sent WhatsApp messages claiming a terror strike worse than 26/11.

Police suspect that a man from Uttar Pradesh residing in Qatar had sent two hoax messages – one on July 12 and the second on Monday – threatening to carry out a 26/11 like attack if Pakistani national Seema Haider did not return to her country, officials said.

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The Worli police on Monday booked an unidentified person under section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The man has a similar case registered against him at his hometown, a source said. “He perhaps thinks the Indian police can’t trace him and therefore he is sending such messages,” the source said, adding that a look out circular had been issued against him, and he would be arrested as soon as he landed in the country.

This man is the prime suspect in the recent threat messages is also because he had sent a series of WhatsApp messages last year, claiming seven Indians had planned a terror strike worse than 26/11, police officers said.

On July 12, the traffic police received a message on WhatsApp that claimed Ak-47 rifles and cartridges had reached Mumbai to carry out a 26/11-like attack if the Indian government failed to hand over Seema Haider to Pakistan.

The traffic police control room on Monday received another message which said, “Seema Haider is a Pakistani agent. She will destroy India; get her out of India. I am giving (you) the timing of the blasts after which it is your wish.”

Seema Haider, a woman from Pakistan, illegally entered India via Nepal with her four children after she fell in love with a Hindu man through an online gaming application, PUBG Mobile. The couple started living together in Greater Noida.