New Delhi: The anti-terrorist squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested two people Thursday for their alleged involvement in anti-national activities, including sharing sensitive information with their Pakistan contacts.
The two arrested accused are Tufail Alam from Varanasi and Mohammed Haroon, a resident of Seelampur, Delhi.
The duo has been charged with intending to harm the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India, and conspiracy to overawe the central or state government using criminal force under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Sources said Tufail posted inflammatory messages on WhatsApp groups and had multiple Pakistani contacts. Haroon allegedly kept contact with Muzammil Hussain, the Delhi-based Pakistan High Commission staffer whom India Wednesday declared persona non grata, ordering him to leave the country within 24 hours.
According to an ATS statement, investigators received intelligence that Tufail worked with a Pakistan-sponsored anti-national organisation that added him to its WhatsApp group.
In such WhatsApp groups, Tufail allegedly shared videos of Maulana Saad Rizvi, the leader of Pakistan-based banned terrorist organisation, Tehreek-e-Labbaik, along with ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ texts, discussing revenge for the Babri Masjid demolition and sharia law implementation in India.
According to an ATS statement, it received intelligence that Tufail was sharing important information “related to India’s internal security with Pakistan numbers”. ATS found Tufail in contact with many people in Pakistan, said its statement, adding that the squad has confirmed the allegations against him.
The ATS alleged Tufail passed on pictures and information of key sites such as Rajghat, Namoghat, Gyanvapi, railway stations, Jama Masjid, Red Fort, Nizamuddin Auliya, etc., to his contacts in Pakistan.
Moreover, “Tufail sent the link of these [WhatsApp] groups run by Pakistan to many other people of Varanasi, and he was in contact with more than 600 Pakistani numbers. He was in contact with a woman named Nafeesa, a resident of Faisalabad, Pakistan, through Facebook, whose husband is in the Pakistani Army,” the ATS statement claimed.
Haroon, a scrap dealer, extorted money in connivance with Hussain, promising people Pakistani visas, the ATS said. “He is involved in anti-national activities by sharing security-related information related to national interest with Muzammil Hussain,” it said.
Investigators claimed Haroon revealed during a custodial interrogation that he came in touch with Hussain while visiting the Pakistan High Commission in the backdrop of having relatives in Pakistan. The ATS said he shared important information on India’s internal security with Muzammil Hussain, who, using that information, tried to destabilise India and harm its internal security.
Additionally, Haroon stands accused of providing information about several bank accounts in India to Muzammil Hussain, who used to deposit the money he collected by defrauding people seeking Pakistani visas in those bank accounts.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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