Rizwan Khan and Saddam Sheikh, arrested by the UP-ATS under charges of UAPA (from left to right, Image: Facebook)
The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested two middle-aged men from Bengaluru and Kashmir for promoting terror activities through their social media handles. These men wanted to be a part of terror outfits and run India as per ‘Sharia law’. They were waiting to sacrifice their lives for Jihad.
The stories of these men are quite similar to the plot of the upcoming film ’72 Hoorian’ which takes a deep dive into the world of terrorists and their beliefs. The film features terrorists who are lured into the world of Jihad with fake promises of Jannat and Hoor’s.
The two accused have been identified as Saddam Sheikh, a resident of the Pathanpurva area of the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh, living in Bengaluru. And Rizwan Khan, a native of BPO Salva, Punch in Jammu who was residing in Uttar Pradesh.
Both these men have their social media accounts filled with posts and videos promoting Jihad and supporting terrorists. They praised organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba and terrorists like Osama-bin-Laden, Zakir Musa, Sameer Tiger etc.
Saddam Sheikh wanted to run India as per Sharia Law
Thirty-eight-year-old Saddam son of Munshi Miya, was living in the Dhabsapet area of Bengaluru and working at NTC company as a driver. He came onto the radar of ATS for his offensive posts on social media platforms. Due to these controversial posts, he got his accounts withheld a number of times.
Following the initial surveillance, the ATS issued an investigation warrant and called Saddam to their office. During the primary investigations, Saddam accepted that he was influenced by Al-Qaeda, Ansar-Gazwat-ul Hind and Hizb-ul. Saddam said terrorists like Osama bin Laden, Zakir Musa, Riyaz Nayaku, Naved Jat, Sameer Tiger etc were his ideals. The ATS also recovered controversial data pertaining to these terrorists from his mobile phone.
Saddam wanted to be a mujahid and he used to share videos and speeches of these terrorists and terror outfits to manipulate other users as well. He was angry with the Babri Mosque decision made by the Supreme Court and wanted to change it. He made a number of social media accounts that were restricted or withheld by Facebook for their controversial content.
One of the reasons for Saddam to post such content on social media was, he wanted these radical organisations to contact him and impart him training. Saddam wanted to build an army by recruiting all the Muslims who are in vulnerable conditions or had grudges against the system in India.
Saddam wanted India to become an Islamic country where Sharia will be the law of the land. Saddam’s profile picture carried posters of ISIS, Al-Badr, and Lashkar-e-Taiba and he was in touch with Pakistani terror outfits through IMO.
Following the inquiry the ATS detained Saddam on July 1 and registered an FIR (number–04/2023) against him at the ATS police station Lucknow. Saddam has been booked under 121-A and 123 with sections 13/18/38 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Rizwan Khan said, “Jihad ki raah par fida hone ke liye, Inshah Allah mai apni baari ka intezar kar raha tha”
Through intelligence, the ATS teams were informed that a man from Kashmir is living in parts of Uttar Pradesh, and is associated with terror activities. After a little investigation, the ATS found posts and videos from Rizwan’s handle which were offensive and raised suspicion.
Rizwan was accused of promoting terror through social media by sharing controversial posts and attracting people for the same. He used to live in Unnao and work at a meat factory named Indango food private limited as a security guard. At the time of arrest, Rizwan was living in Farbis Ganj Bihar where he was working at Marhaba frozen food private limited as a security guard.
As a procedure the ATS by means of an investigation warrant called Rizwan to the head office where he accepted that he was posting radical content on social media. Rizwan was influenced by militants and weapons as he wished to become a Mujahid one day.
The ATS gas found pictures from terror camp training, weapons and anti-national songs from his profile. Rizwan said he wanted to be like terrorist Zakir Musa (who ran Tanjim group and Ansar-Gazwat-ul-Hind), Burhan Wani (Hizb-ul-Mujaheeddin and Mujahid). He believed in their ideas and wishes to embrace them in real life, he used to promote the idea of Jihad and expand the message of these terrorists.
Rizwan Khan said, “Jihad ki raah par fida hone ke liye, Inshah Allah mai apni baari ka intezar kar raha tha” (I was waiting for my turn to sacrifice my life for Jihad).
He also wanted to bring Sharia to India and hence make the country an Islamic nation.
Following the interrogations, the ATS detained Rizwan and registered an FIR (number–05/2023) against him at the ATS police station, Lucknow. He has been booked under IPC sections 121-A and 123 with sections 13/18/38 of the UAPA.
ATS has been arresting people with suspicious activities across the state for a long time no. In a recent case the teams on the night of June 2, arrested three persons, namely Nazim Hasan, Mohammad Sadiq, and Azhar Malik, from multiple locations across Saharanpur.
The police arrested Nazim, Sadiq and Azhar for luring a Hindu boy into converting by showing him the fear of eternal hellfire. They also offered him a job and a wife. Police acted on the complaint of the boy’s father Somdutt, who lives in Saharanpur.
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