Four planning to build ‘Mujahideen Army’ to overthrow govt held in UP

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday arrested four men who were allegedly conspiring to form a “Mujahideen Army” to topple the Indian government through “violent jihad” and by imposing the Sharia law, officials said.

According to ATS, intelligence inputs suggested they were influenced by radical Pakistani organisations and were holding meetings at different locations. The four men were also active on social media groups to spread extremist ideology.

They were allegedly collecting funds to procure arms and plot targeted killings of prominent non-Muslim religious leaders in the near future, an official statement issued here said. ATS registered a case under relevant provisions on Monday at its Lucknow police station and arrested four men identified as Akmal Raza from Sultanpur; Safeel Salmani alias Ali Razvi from Sonbhadra; Mohammad Tausif from Kanpur; and Qasim Ali from Rampur.

During preliminary interrogation, they allegedly admitted to planning to wage jihad against “kafirs” in retaliation against perceived atrocities on Muslims, and sought to enforce Sharia law in the country, it said.

They were also trying to radicalise people, collect jihadi literature, and spread extremist propaganda, officials said.

The ATS recovered five mobile phones, Aadhaar and PAN cards, debit and credit cards, and a PhonePe scanner from their possession.

The ATS said it will seek police custody from the court for further investigation to identify their associates and facilitators.