JeM suspects had visited Delhi, stayed there for a month: UP ATS

LUCKNOW: The two Kashmiri youths arrested by Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (UP ATS) from Deoband township in Saharanpur for their links with banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) had visited Delhi and stayed there for a month, and officials are now trying to establish whether they went to do recce of vital installations or develop contacts in the national capital.

UP ATS officials said on Tuesday that the data extracted from the cellphones of JeM Shahnawaz Teli and Aquib Ahmad Malik revealed their location details.

ATS has retrieved over 100 chats in Kashmiri language from their phones and is now getting them fully translated since the word 'Fidayeen' was frequently mentioned in them.

The phones also have numerous photos in which Shahnawaz and Aquib are seen with terrorists who were killed recently by forces in the valley. "We scanned the cellphones of the accused and found that Shahnawaz and Aquib were in Delhi for over a month. The two had made and received several calls during their stay there. We are trying to decipher whether they had gone for conducting a recce or developing local contacts," said Asim Arun Inspector General of Police IG (ATS).

The place where they stayed in Delhi will also be searched. The officer also said that Shahnawaz and Aquib interacted with others in Kashmiri language and there were over 100 chats in their cellphones. Two translators have bben asigned the translation of the chats. The duo was mostly in touch with eight persons on WhatsApp and Telegram apps and their chats included " Kuchh karna hai jaldi. " All the eight are under surveillance of ATS and J&K Police.

Shahnawaz and Aquib used to change their WhatsApp IDs frequently; they also used the Telegram app for making calls and chatting.

The cellphone of Aquib has "Pakistan Zindabad" as the opening message. Among the terrorists in the photos with them was Zubair Ahmad Bhat, member of JeM, who was killed by forces in January 2019.