The UP Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on Friday arrested a suspected terror operative who was allegedly tasked by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) to eliminate suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nupur Sharma for her objectionable remarks against Prophet Mohammed, a senior police officer privy to the case said.
UP ATS additional director general (ADG), Naveen Arora, identified the suspect as Mohammed Nadeem (25) and said he was arrested from Kundakala village under Gangoh police station of Saharanpur district in western UP.
The ATS will seek Nadeem’s custody in a local court on Friday.
“Nadeem was booked under IPC sections 121-A (waging war against the country), 123 (concealing existence of a design to wage war against the country) and sections 13, 18 and 38 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA),” according to Arora.
According to a press note shared by the ATS, several WhatsApp chats and voice chats with people associated with terror groups as well a documents related to the ‘Explosive Course Fidayeen Force’ were retrieved from Nadeem’s phone. The note said he had confessed to having terror links since 2018.
“The suspect was given the task to eliminate suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma,” the press note quoted a senior official as saying.
{{/usCountry}}“The suspect was given the task to eliminate suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma,” the press note quoted a senior official as saying.
{{/usCountry}}According to ADG Arora, Nadeem revealed during interrogation that he was trained to create virtual numbers and virtual IDs on social media and had provided over 30 such virtual numbers and to terror organisations. “Nadeem was in touch with terror operatives through WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, IMO, Telegram and Clubhouse,” said Arora.
“Nadeem was also planning to go to Afghanistan and Pakistan for terror training and was aiming to move to Syria through Egypt. Efforts are underway to trace his Indian associates,” said Arora.
On Tuesday, the ATS said it had foiled a terror plot to target Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers after the arrest of alleged Islamic State (IS) operative, Sabah-ud-deen Azmi, from Azamgarh district.
According to the ATS, Azmi was allegedly in touch with IS recruiters Abu Umar and Abu Bakar Al-Shami through phone and instant messaging applications. He had allegedly been propagating IS ideology through different social media platforms and he also created a telegram channel to indoctrinate youth, said the squad.