UP ATS Arrests 19-Year-Old Coding Expert from Tamil Nadu in Al-Qaeda Terror Module Probe

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh: The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh has arrested a 19-year-old youth from Tamil Nadu for his alleged involvement in a terror module inspired by the ideology of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), taking the total number of arrests in the case to two.

The accused, identified as Maqsood Ali, was apprehended from Kodisia Ground in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, on September 14 with the assistance of the Tamil Nadu ATS. Ali is a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Siddharthnagar district.

According to officials, UP ATS earlier received intelligence that certain individuals were conspiring to carry out anti-national activities by forming groups across various social media platforms.

Inspired by the ideology of Al-Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki, the group was recruiting young men via WhatsApp to become Mujahideen and planning to procure funds as well as training in sophisticated weapons. The network involved individuals from other Indian states alongside foreign nationals.

Following the verification of intelligence, UP ATS registered the case under Sections 152 and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, along with Sections 18 and 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Subsequently, the first accused in the module, Mohammad Nabil, a resident of Azamgarh district, was arrested on September 12.

Following Nabil's arrest, Maqsood Ali's role surfaced during the first accused's interrogation. According to investigators, Maqsood, in collusion with Nabil and others, was hatching a plot to orchestrate violent jihadist activities against India. To execute this, he had established contact with Pakistani hackers and was attempting to develop hacking tools.

During interrogation, Maqsood disclosed that he had self-taught Python, Java, coding, and hacking using online platforms. To facilitate their activities, he created a secure application named ‘CAPTAIN M NETWORK’ featuring the motto: “One Platform, One Mission: Unity, Plan, and Action.” Nabil, Maqsood, and other members communicated with each other through this encrypted application.

Interrogation further revealed that Maqsood operated two WhatsApp accounts connected to groups such as “UU Entry Gate,” “United Ummah,” “Gazwa-e-Hind,” “Team Black Hat,” and “Lashkar-e-Mehndi.”

These groups allegedly comprised of Pakistani hackers and several Pakistani telephone numbers. The operational plan included the creation of a secure messaging application to serve as a unified communication platform for advancing their agenda and disseminating jihadist literature.

Additionally, Maqsood was a member of the WhatsApp group ‘La Ghalib-illallah’, which was administered by Mohammad Nabil. In this group, literature linked to AQIS and instructional videos on bomb-making were actively circulated on this platform.

Following his arrest in Coimbatore, Maqsood was brought to Lucknow on transit remand and is currently being produced before the court for further legal proceedings.