MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a 33-year-old man suspected of having links with the banned terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) from Mumbai’s Mahim area, officials said.
The accused, identified as Mohammad Hasan Abu Sarmad Akhtar, was apprehended by the Kalachowki unit of the Maharashtra ATS near Mahim Metro station following a tip-off.
According to the investigating agency, the accused used his work as a Rapido rider and perfume seller as a cover while propagating radical ideology.
The ATS alleged that he was attempting to spread communal hatred and anti-national sentiments through various social media platforms. Investigators also recovered material allegedly linked to such activities from his mobile phone.
According to the agency, the accused operated a Telegram group where he allegedly uploaded inflammatory audio speeches by Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar on the Babri Masjid and other issues on June 1. The ATS also claimed that he was an active member of a Pakistan-backed extremist Telegram channel called 'IBN-e-Qasim'.
The arrest comes months after the Gujarat ATS detained five people in July during an investigation into an alleged terror module linked to JeM.
The five accused were identified as Bilal Abidbhai Shera, Mohammad Ayub Kadiwala, Mohammad Palanpuri alias Khali Ayub Sunsara, Shafia Rais Mukhti and Mohammad Hasan Kardia. They were arrested from Khadiyal village in Siddhpur taluka of Gujarat’s Patan district.
Officials said the five suspects came under the scanner during the investigation into eight alleged JeM operatives arrested earlier that month.
The accused were produced before Judicial Magistrate R.M. Bhatia in Kadi town of Mehsana district, who remanded them to ATS custody until July 24.
Public Prosecutor P.R. Dantani told the court that custodial interrogation was necessary to investigate the alleged activities of the accused. He had claimed that one of them had attempted to make a time bomb and that investigators were yet to recover bomb-making materials and Urdu literature linked to the JeM.
Speaking to reporters, Dantani had said the names of the five accused had emerged during the investigation. He added that the ATS wanted to determine the source of the alleged bomb-making materials, where they had been concealed, and how the accused obtained jihadi literature associated with the banned outfit.