In a joint operation, officers of the Tamil Nadu Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) and Uttar Pradesh ATS arrested 19-year-old Maqsood Ali, son of Abdul Kuthoos of Madhwapur in Siddharthnagar district of UP, on September 14.
He was arrested on charges of attempting to radicalise youths. The joint teams found him at Hope College in Coimbatore, hours before he was to leave for Bengaluru. Acting on a tip-off from the UP ATS, which had earlier detained a suspect, Mohammed Nabeel, on September 12 from Azamgarh, the Tamil Nadu team arrested Ali in Coimbatore.
Sources privy to the operation said Ali is part of an online module linked to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).
Maqsood had been working for a Bengaluru-based HR agency operated by Safiqul, a native of Bihar. He, along with a few others, arrived in Coimbatore on September 7 to work at the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) Trade Fair complex and stayed at a hotel near Hope College.
Based on inputs gained from arrested Maqsood Ali, the UP ATS alerted its Tamil Nadu counterpart, which detained him within an hour. The information was shared with the UP team, which came to take him and produced him before a magistrate’s court for a transit warrant. He was then taken to UP on a prisoner transit warrant.
Reports said the arrested Ali operated an Instagram handle called ‘Muslim Warrior’. He also developed a secure application called “Captain M Network”, with the motto “One platform, one motive, unity, plan and action”. It is allegedly being used to radicalise youths.
Ali reportedly had links to WhatsApp groups such as ‘UU Entry Gate’, ‘United Ummah’, ‘Gazwa-e-Hind’, ‘Team Black Hat’ and ‘Lashjar-e-Mehndi’.
Reports claimed that nearly 12 Pakistani nationals were members of the ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ WhatsApp group, along with arrested Maqsood, Nabeel and others. They are suspected to be part of a conspiracy to carry out violent ‘jihadist’ activities in India.
Maqsood allegedly came into contact with Pakistani hackers and was attempting to develop similar hacking tools. He learnt Python, Java, coding and hacking skills through online resources, including Instagram, YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp groups. Interestingly, the 19-year-old Maqsood studied up to Class 9 but learnt coding and AI online.
The officials seized Maqsood’s phone and other material. Throughout the questioning, he was reportedly uncooperative, claiming he was innocent and had only browsed reels.
The ATS team collected CCTV footage from the hotel and neighbouring areas, as well as the venue, which they are studying. It is suspected that the duo was purportedly influenced by Al-Qaeda ideology through preacher Anwar al-Awlaki and used WhatsApp groups to recruit youths.
They allegedly had plans to train recruits as ‘mujahids’, including training them in weapon handling and fundraising activities. The network was reportedly functioning across multiple states and had links with foreign contacts.
Coimbatore is a known hotbed for terror outfits and fundamentalist forces due to the patronage they receive from their own men and the government’s failure to monitor and contain them.
Recently, a youth from Jharkhand was arrested after he allegedly posed as an Army officer. However, his Aadhaar card had a different name. A Hindu Munnani alert functionary, Hariharan, found this anomaly and a fake Army ID and handed him over to the police.
He was initially remanded to judicial custody till September 8, and the remand was later extended.
Sources privy to the interrogation said, “We found a doctor’s uniform, stethoscope, etc. from his baggage. He had made some calls to foreign nations which are in conflict with India. He and three others were staying at a place where some youths from their native state had already been staying. The guests were looking for jobs, as per their claims. But it is more than meets the eye. The Army is also trying to find out the reason for the fake ID card.”
There are no buyers to accept the justification given by Usman Ladin and the police that he wanted to become an Army officer and therefore made a fake ID.
One of the Hindu Munnani functionaries asked the police whether, if someone made a fake ID of the police force, they would accept it and say that it was only a petty case. The police had no answers.
It is alleged that the local Intelligence Service (IS) of the Tamil Nadu Police, which has wielded influence with higher officials, from the minority community, has been trying to help him in all possible ways.
Why was he keeping a doctor’s uniform and stethoscope with him? He has some plans. “We are still continuing our questions on various angles.”
