New Delhi: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) said Friday it has arrested eight men including a Maulvi, a medical store employee and a construction labourer for allegedly promoting activities of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The accused, said ATS, were influenced by JeM chief Masood Azhar, in touch with Pakistan-based handlers, and translating JeM literature into Gujarati to ‘maximise the dissemination of its ideology’.
ATS also said it recovered from the accused ‘letters addressed to Masood Azhar meant to demonstrate allegiance to JeM’ and that they were working on extending invites to other people from their localities to join an organisation (tanzeem) floated by the name of “Darul Islam Gujarat Jaish-E-Mohammad (JeM)”.
In a statement Friday, the agency said Harsh Upadhyay, Deputy Superintendent of Police, ATS, had received a tip-off about certain men promoting JeM ideology.
“Investigation found that these individuals in Gujarat were actively planning to promote the ideology of this banned terrorist organisation and to execute terrorist activities. Under the leadership and as part of a conspiracy of the terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), they were contacting the people of India through various mediums to radicalise them, establish an active network on behalf of JeM in Gujarat, and propagate anti-national acts and terrorist conspiracies,” ATS said.
It added that five teams were formed, following the tip-off, and raids were conducted in Banaskantha, Mehsana, Navsari, and Patan districts in Gujarat, and Dewas district in Madhya Pradesh to locate the suspects. The probe, said ATS, revealed that the accused had been giving dawat (invitations) to other people to join JeM and were “translating JeM literature into Gujarati to maximize the propagation and dissemination of its ideology”.
Look up to Masood Azhar
ATS has identified the accused as Ahmad Abdullah Gajivala (19) and Ibrahim Mohammad Husain Ghagha (30), both residents of Mahsana; Mudassir Abdullah Gajivala (22), a resident of Banaskantha; Zakariya Durani Mohammad Ammar Ghagha (21), Mohammad Amin Shera (21), and Mufti Faujan Ismail Dauva (40), all residents of Patan; Mohammad Abdul Rehman Savdi (22), a resident of Navsari; and Bilal Durani Mohammad Ammar Ghagha (18), a resident of Dewas.
“The accused were in contact with Pakistani handlers Abdullah and Mohammad Umar,” said an ATS officer who did not wish to be named.
The officer added that the accused belong to lower middle-income groups, and all of them were educated at village-level madrassas. Dauva himself is a Maulvi. They all know each other through common villages and acquaintances.
Gujarat ATS DIG Sunil Joshi told ThePrint that upon examination, evidence found on their phones confirmed their links to JeM. “They had even written letters in the name of Masood Azhar to demonstrate their allegiance to the group.”
Further, Joshi said the accused translated extremist literature—including books authored by Masood Azhar—into Gujarati to facilitate its widespread dissemination within Gujarat.
To execute this alleged conspiracy, the accused had received funding of approximately Rs 3 lakh, said ATS, adding that they used it to purchase an old car, which has not been transferred to either of their names to date. The ATS said this car was to be used for when any other JeM member would visit the village.
Investigators said the accused were also instructed to secure a hideout, specifically, to rent a small house, to be used by other JeM members, and to secure their locations. Their task, according to ATS, was to provide logistical support. “They were told to keep the group small, and members should only be trusted individuals,” said a second ATS officer.
Banned material recovered during raids
The officer said, “an online application named Nord Locker was found on Ibrahim Mohammad Husain Ghagha’s mobile phone, containing a total of 254 pieces of literature, including Jihadi books, speeches (Bayan), audio, videos, photographs, and the flag of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).”
Further, ATS said it recovered books written by Masood Azhar and printed in Pakistan, along with other books on ‘Jihad’, and eight letters typed in Urdu and addressed to Masood Azhar, during the raids. The agency said it also recovered literature translated from Urdu to Gujarati from the book Dars-e-Jihad written by JeM chief Masood Azhar, translated by Ibrahim Mohammad Husain Ghagha and Zakariya.
The accused, the agency added, had been consuming social media content like YouTube videos and were part of Telegram groups where radical content was available, and they were also sharing it with other people.
No weapons were recovered from them, the ATS clarified.
Based on the evidence cited by ATS, a case has been registered against all eight accused under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, and sections 61 and 148 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and further legal proceedings have been initiated. “We have obtained tele-identifiers for an individual named Abdullah—based in Pakistan—who was in contact with them. No weapons were recovered from their possession…,” the ATS said.
According to the ATS, the agency has registered 10 cases and arrested 30 individuals in the last three and a half years. This marks the 11th case, taking the number of arrests to 38.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)