Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh police have arrested 12 Islamists with suspected links to Islamist extremist organisations following a coordinated multi-state operation.
Special teams were deployed across Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana and Rajasthan, leading to the arrests, police said on Wednesday. According to intelligence officials, three of the accused are from Andhra Pradesh.
The three, identified as Mohammad Rahmatullah Shareef, Mirza Sohail Beg and Mohammad Danish, all residents of Vijayawada, are alleged to have played a key role in promoting Islamist extremist ideology and coordinating activities linked to banned terror outfits.
Investigators said the suspects were in contact with foreign handlers associated with Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and were working towards expanding Islamist extremist networks.
Police said the trio had formed a group named “Al Malik Islamic Youth” aimed at radicalising youth, recruiting members and spreading jihadist propaganda through social media platforms.
The Counter Intelligence Cell found that the accused were acting on instructions from foreign handlers and coordinating with operatives across multiple states. They were also allegedly promoting the concept of “Ghazwa-e-Hind” and attempting to widen their network nationwide.
Preliminary findings indicate that Rahmatullah, a bike taxi driver, was influenced by extremist content online and actively shared such material. Along with Danish, a laser marking professional, and Sohail Beg, a restaurant worker, he allegedly used digital platforms to spread radical propaganda.
Rahmatullah is also believed to have been in touch with a foreign handler identified as Al-Hakeem Shukur and coordinated with associates in Bihar and Hyderabad. Investigators further traced links to individuals in several states connected to an ISIS-linked module.
The accused allegedly used social media to recruit and radicalise youth, shared extremist content, and projected themselves as “Mujahideen” in videos. Police said they also engaged in anti-national acts online, including glorifying terror outfits and spreading hatred.
Investigations revealed that the group was planning to travel to Pakistan for training and was encouraging others to undergo militant training in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
