The Ghaziabad Police have arrested six individuals on charges of allegedly promoting and supporting the banned terrorist organization ‘Jaish-e-Mohammed’ through social media and messaging platforms.
Authorities have registered a case against the accused under the ‘Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act’ (UAPA).
According to police officials, the group was allegedly operating a WhatsApp network through which members shared propaganda material, training videos, and links associated with the banned terrorist organization.
Investigators stated that the group was also circulating messages aimed at radicalizing the youth and inciting anti-national sentiments among them.
The police identified the prime accused as Savez, a resident of Nahal village in the Masuri area. He was the one who created the WhatsApp group and added several local youths to it. During interrogation, Savez allegedly revealed that he has studied up to the 12th grade and works at a grocery store. He had previously resided at a mosque in Nahal village for approximately six years and currently lives in the Aziz Nagar Colony of Masuri. Officials noted that Savez was influenced after watching videos on Facebook and Instagram that depicted alleged atrocities committed against members of his community.
Subsequently, he began discussing such content with others at a local madrasa in the village, following which he created the WhatsApp group to raise awareness among people regarding the alleged persecution faced by his religious community.
The police further revealed that one of the arrested accused, Ikram Ali, has family ties to Bangladesh; investigators are currently examining the background of his mother, Sahida, in connection with this case.
The six arrested individuals have been identified as Savez, Abdul Qadeem, Junaid, Fadin, Ikram Ali, Fazal, and Javed. The police stated that the accused include a lawyer, a law student, and a mosque cleric. Additional DCP Lipi Naghaich stated that the police, in collaboration with officials from the Mussoorie police station, conducted a raid in Nahal village and took the suspects into custody. During this operation, several mobile phones were seized from the accused.
Rural DCP Surendranath Tiwari revealed that an initial examination of the devices uncovered messages linked to anti-national activities. Police teams and cyber experts are currently analyzing the suspects’ emails, WhatsApp chats, and other social media accounts.
According to investigators, certain chats recovered from the phones indicate that members of the group were sharing radical content and inciting others to support a banned organization. All six accused individuals were produced before a court and subsequently remanded to judicial custody. The police stated that further investigations are underway to determine whether this group had any connections to a larger network or external handlers.
