A sweeping intelligence-led crackdown is underway across Uttar Pradesh after the arrest of Kashmir resident Dr. Adeel Ahmad Rather in Saharanpur and emerging links to a broader radical network suspected of influencing students, medical professionals and workers across western UP. The UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), acting on layered intelligence inputs, has intensified verification drives in Sambhal, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Saharanpur and Deoband, uncovering alarming gaps in background checks at private security agencies especially those operating inside meat-processing units.
In Sambhal district, ATS and local police identified 52 Kashmiri-origin security guards deployed at meat processing factories without mandatory police verification. Officials confirmed that 13 guards were sent back to J&K, while the remaining 39 have been served notices to return home by November 25.
A senior police officer said the abrupt move by factory operators raised suspicion, “Why did they initiate the process of sending guards back in the middle of verification? The atmosphere after the Delhi blast warrants full scrutiny.”
The populations of these guards reportedly trace back to Poonch and Rajouri, areas flagged in past counter-terror investigations.
In Bareilly, where the Delhi blast probe first triggered alerts, police discovered 27 Kashmiri youths employed as security guards at two major meat-exporting companies again without any police or local verification. The security agency responsible for their deployment is itself run by a Kashmir resident.
DIG Ajay Kumar Sahni confirmed, “A detailed report has been sought. Further action will follow after full analysis by the CO, LIU.” Sources indicate agencies are probing mobile locations, financial transactions, and past movements of all security personnel.
This heightened scrutiny stems from earlier Income Tax Department raids, in which investigators had flagged potential links between Kashmiri-run security agencies and funding routes connected to radical Islamist organisations.
Three years ago, an IT report raised concerns that some of these agencies might be fronts facilitating money flow to anti-national networks. The current renewed investigation is aligned with those earlier indicators.
The ATS has expanded its probe beyond industry and into academic and medical institutions.
- In Pilibhit, ATS has sought full records of doctors, MBBS students, BAMS students, administrative staff and even photographs of vehicles owned by medical professionals.
- This comes after names of certain doctors surfaced during the Delhi blast investigation.
- Pilibhit’s proximity to the Nepal border a known transit zone has further elevated concerns.
Authorities believe Dr. Adeel Ahmad Rather may have attempted to influence Kashmiri students at a local medical college and seminary, possibly attempting to radicalise vulnerable visitors.
In Deoband, police launched a door-to-door verification campaign, inspecting over 200 houses to identify outsiders staying without documentation or individuals who might have come in contact with suspected recruiters. The ATS has also sought complete lists from over 200 madrasas in Prayagraj and adjoining districts, including:
- details of students,
- origin of teachers and maulanas,
- management profiles,
- recent foreign travel history,
- and any links to J&K or Pakistan.
Officials emphasise this is part of a statewide multi-tiered security verification exercise, not a move against any community, but a precautionary measure after the Delhi blast.
Another key figure in the Delhi blast case, Dr. Shaheen Shahid, completed her MBBS and MD (Pharmacology) from Motilal Nehru Medical College, Prayagraj. After the blast, intelligence teams visited the campus for background details, and the ATS has now formally requested comprehensive data on individuals connected to her during her academic tenure.
Sambhal has previously seen raids by the NIA and UP ATS for suspected terror modules. Links to the Faridabad module of Jaish-e-Mohammed, and recovery of foreign ammunition during the Jama Masjid survey violence (Nov 2024), had already placed Sambhal on a special alert list.
Despite clear rules mandating police verification for any outsider employed in UP’s factories especially in sensitive industries multiple companies appear to have ignored the law.
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