How terror suspects from Mumbra 'ducked' the authorities' radar

Representational picture

Days after the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) filed a charge sheet against 10 Mumbra-based terror suspects, arrested in January this year, the cops found that they were using a search engine DuckDuckGo to hide their search details and dodge law enforcers. Investigation has revealed that they were using a mobile-run application Textnow to procure virtual contact numbers and get themselves registered on various social media platforms. Thereafter, they used to secretly communicate with each other through those platforms to execute their plan.

ATS sources further said the group - Ummat-E-Mohammaddiya - inspired by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, had allegedly planned to poison the maha prasad given out to devotees at Mumbreshwar temple. They further revealed that they had conducted trial explosions at the foothill of the Mumbra bypass. The nine suspects (tenth one a minor) have been identified as Mohsin Khan alias Abu Mary, Atai Waris Shaikh alias Mazhar, Mohammad Takky Khan alias Abu Khalid, Mushahed Ul-Islam Majid, Mohammad Sarfaraj Usmani, Jamman Nawab Khutepad, Salman Sirajuddin Khan, Fahad Ansari and Talha Potrick.

The cops got to know about DuckDuckGo from the suspects' phones. They were using it to browse the Internet and search for information related to the ISIS. They had also downloaded VPN (secured) applications like Freedome and Cyber Ghost, which cannot be accessed through common search engines. These apps provide access to blocked sites, blogs and literature. ATS sources said the suspects were also using Orbot Proxy with TOR browser that helps create a private mobile Internet connection and defends against network surveillance. Cops found they were using 13 email IDs, nine Facebook IDs and 11 telegram IDs for secret conversations.

Also Read: Zakir Naik calls government's probe against him a 'witch-hunt'

Scheming minds at work

Mohsin Khan: The prime accused in the case and highly inspired by the ISIS ideology. He formed the terror group on social media and shared the ideology with the other culprits.
Atai Waris Shaikh: A member of the WhatsApp and Instagram groups Ummat-E-Mohammadiya, Wakunuma Sadiqeen and Iqwa Fi Deen. He and the others had planned to terrorise kafirs (non-muslims) with the help of explosives and by means of poisoning. Mohammad Takky Khan: Also a member of the social media groups. He used to attend their gatherings at the residences of Atai and Salman.

Mushahe Ul-Islam: He is Mohsin's brother-in-law. He had arranged for his accommodation and given him a sim card that he was using. Mohammad Sarfaraj Usmani: He along with some of the others had prepared explosives using hydrogen peroxide. He was present went the trial explosions were conducted at Mumbra. Jamman Nawab Khutepad: He had prepared the poison and kept it in a bottle as per the procedure laid down in the military channel of ISIS, and the same was to be mixed in the prasad.

Salman Sirajuddin Khan: He is a football coach and physical trainer. He used to arrange the physical training sessions for the culprits to prepare them according to the
ISIS guidelines. Fahad Ansari: He used to share information related to the ISIS ideology and jihad with the others, and was also planning to go to Syria. Talha Potrick: He was also a part of the planning process.

Also Read: 26/11 terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed's judicial custody extended

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates