The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on May 19 arrested 18-year-old Jasim Shahnawaz Ansari from Nadiad for his alleged role in cyber terrorism. According to ATS officials, Ansari intensified his digital attacks in the wake of India’s Operation Sindoor, which was launched in retaliation to the deadly Pahalgam terror strike.
Preliminary investigations revealed that between April and May 2025, Ansari, along with a group of juveniles, orchestrated cyberattacks on more than 50 Indian government websites. The targeted domains included critical sectors such as defence, finance, civil aviation, urban development, and various state government departments.
The arrest followed intelligence gathered through ongoing surveillance by the Gujarat ATS. Authorities uncovered that Ansari and his associates were operating a Telegram group named “AnonSec,” which they used to coordinate and launch DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. These cyberattacks aimed to overwhelm and crash government websites by bombarding them with excessive web traffic.
Ansari is said to have taught himself Python programming through YouTube tutorials and downloaded various hacking tools from open-source platforms like GitHub. Using mobile applications such as Termux and Pydroid, he deployed these tools to execute cyberattacks. To confirm the success of each strike, he used monitoring sites like checkhost.net and shared screenshots in the AnonSec Telegram group—often accompanied by provocative, anti-India messages such as, “Hi, India, we just took down your shield and servers.”
The AnonSec group, composed of similarly radicalised youth, frequently changed its name to evade detection and regularly posted content promoting anti-national ideologies. One of their most significant attacks occurred on May 7, 2025, when they launched a coordinated cyber offensive on 20 Indian government websites. During the attack, the group posted defiant statements like, “India may have started it, but we will be the ones to finish it.”
Authorities revealed that Ansari had recently failed his Class 12 science examinations, while one of his juvenile accomplices is currently a Class 12 student. The Gujarat ATS is now investigating whether the suspects acted on their own or were influenced by foreign entities. Officials are closely examining their digital tools, software, and online activity to uncover possible external links.
An FIR has been registered under Sections 43 and 66F of the Information Technology Act, which deal with cyber terrorism and unauthorised access to computer systems.
