Maharashtra ATS arrests Mahim man, 33, on suspicion of Jaish-e-Mohammed links

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a 33-year-old man from Mumbai's Mahim area. Officials say he is suspected of having links with the banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The accused has been identified as Mohammad Hasan Abu Sarmad Akhtar. The ATS's Kala Chowki unit received a tip-off and then picked him up near Mahim metro station.

The investigating agency says the accused worked as a Rapido rider and also sold perfume. According to the agency, he used this work as a cover to spread radical ideology.

The ATS also alleges that he was trying to spread communal hatred and anti-national sentiment through various social media platforms. Investigators have also recovered material allegedly linked to such activities from his mobile phone.

The agency says the accused ran a Telegram group. He is alleged to have uploaded inflammatory audio speeches by JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar to the group on June 1. The speeches were on the Babri Masjid and other issues.

The ATS also claimed that the accused was an active member of a Telegram channel named "IBN-e-Qasim". The agency describes the channel as a radical channel backed by Pakistan.

The arrest comes a few months after action taken by the Gujarat ATS in July. The Gujarat ATS then detained five people during its investigation into an alleged JeM-linked terror module.

The five accused were named as Bilal Abidbhai Shera, Mohammad Ayub Kadiwala, Mohammad Palanpuri alias Khali Ayub Sunsara, Shafia Raees Mukhti and Mohammad Hasan Kardiya. They were arrested from Khadiyal village in Siddhpur taluka of Patan district, Gujarat.

Officials said the five suspects had come to the ATS's notice during its investigation into eight alleged JeM operatives who had been caught earlier the same month.

The accused were produced before Judicial Magistrate R.M. Bhatia in Kadi town of Mehsana district. The magistrate sent them to ATS custody until July 24.

Speaking to the media, Dantani had said that the names of the five accused emerged during the investigation. He also said the ATS wants to find out where the alleged bomb-making material came from, where it was kept hidden, and how the accused obtained jihadi literature linked to the banned organisation.