The Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh police claimed to have busted a pan-India White Collar terror module working at the behest of their handlers in Pakistan. Eight people, including three doctors, have been arrested so far and approximately 2,900 kilograms of explosive material have been recovered from Faridabad in the National Capital Region (NCR) on Monday.
The Pioneer had reported on Monday, November 10, that the J&K police personnel were close to busting the pan-India terror module. The recovery of a huge cache of arms and ammunition, along with the huge quantity of explosive material, has stunned the entire security establishment in the NCR region.
The doctors were allegedly linked to banned terrorist outfits, the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH).
Investigators have refused to share any details as the investigations are currently ongoing. In the coming days, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) may be roped in by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to launch an extensive probe to unravel the terror plot hatched by the Pakistan-based handlers of these banned terror outfits.
Of the eight arrested, seven are from Kashmir — Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf, and Maqsood Ahmad Dar alias Shahid from Nowgam in Srinagar; Maulvi Irfan Ahmad from Shopian; Zameer Ahmad Ahanger alias Mutlasha from Wakura area of Ganderbal.
Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie alias Musaib, from the Koil area of Pulwama and Dr Adeel from the Wanpora area of Kulgam. Dr Shaheen is based in Lucknow. The White Collar terror module was initially exposed by the J&K police when it launched investigations to identify the miscreants behind the surfacing of pro-terrorist posters across different parts of the Kashmir valley.
On October 19, multiple JeM posters threatening and intimidating police and security forces were found pasted at different locations in Srinagar. That was the starting point of the investigation, leading to the unravelling of the inter-state terror network. Accordingly, an FIR, under different sections of the UAPA Act, the BNS, the Explosive Substance Act and the Arms Act, was registered at the Nowgam Police Station in Srinagar.
The investigation achieved its first breakthrough with the arrest of 31-year-old Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather, working at a private hospital in UP’s Saharanpur. The police teams tracked him with the help of CCTV footage, where he was seen pasting the posters. The police team also recovered an AK-47 rifle from his personal locker at Government Medical College (GMC), Anantnag, on Saturday. He was associated with the hospital till October 24, 2024.
Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, alias Musaib, from the Koil area of Pulwama, was arrested by the police from Faridabad. Ganaie, a teacher at the Al Falah University in Haryana, was arrested after the J&K police named him as a wanted person in a case involving putting up posters in Srinagar. Several Pakistani numbers were found on the phones of Ganaie and Adeel, officials said. They could be the possible handlers of the network.
Satender Kumar Gupta, Commissioner of Police, Faridabad, said raids were conducted at Ganaie’s premises on Sunday, where police teams recovered 350 kgs of explosives, 20 timers, assault rifles, handguns and ammunition. He was arrested by the police 10 days ago after evidence linking him to Jaish-e-Mohammed emerged.
A pistol with eight live rounds, two empty cartridges and two additional magazines were recovered in the raid. Eight big suitcases, four small suitcases and a bucket were also recovered from the accused’s room. “There are many other operational details and since the operation is ongoing, these cannot be shared at the moment,” said the commissioner.
After Shakeel’s questioning, the Faridabad police also recovered a Swift car that belongs to a woman doctor working at the Al-Falah Hospital. An assault rifle and a pistol were recovered from the car. The woman doctor was later arrested and subjected to interrogation.
The J&K police claimed the group has been using encrypted channels for indoctrination, coordination, fund movement and logistics. “Funds were raised through professional and academic networks, under the guise of social and charitable causes. The accused were found involved in identifying persons, to radicalise, initiate and recruit them to terrorist ranks, besides raising funds, arranging logistics, procurement of arms, ammunition and material for preparing IEDs,” it said.
