If the Delhi Police Special Cell is to be believed, the alleged trio of Jaish-e-Mohammad sympathisers, first made contact with the Pakistan-based outfit through Facebook.
Sajid, Shakir and Sameer, who were arrested in a joint operation by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell and Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad on Tuesday, are currently being subjected to custodial interrogation. Ten others have been detained and are also being questioned. Officers on Friday said nearly a year ago, Sajid joined a Facebook page and came across posts with content on atrocities against Muslims. This reportedly appealed to him.
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“He too posted comments which appealed to other users and that’s how he caught their attention. We suspect that one of these users was Talha, who later assumed the role of a mentor for him and others. Sajid passed through several stages and channels to finally establish direct communication with Talha, Azhar’s brother,” said a senior police officer.
It was through the Facebook group, added the officer, that Sajid allegedly learnt about two other websites propagating Jihad and radical literature. “Both these websites had other links and threads carrying similar material and propagating the same ideology. Since Sajid was disenchanted with Islamic State and drawn towards JeM’s ideology, he finally landed on a website he found more relevant in getting connected to the JeM,” said the officer.
This website was a major breakthrough for Sajid and the others he had met and influenced by then to contact the Jaish chief’s close aides directly.
“A Pakistani landline number was provided on this website and the number was manned by operators round the clock. After Sajid made repeated calls to the number, information about him was passed on to the higher ups in the JeM ladder. The word reached Talha as well,” he said.
Once Talha was convinced that Sajid, Shakir and Sameer were ready to execute their plans, he insisted on building a network and hence more people were roped in. A WhatsApp group was also set up, with Talha as member.
The officer said the number has been verified as based in Pakistan. On call record details of Sajid and others to establish phone calls made to Pakistan, the officer said most of the calls were made through WhatsApp and that the details are available.
