Arrested LeT suspects were conspiring to wage war against Indian govt, says ATS chargesheet

Starting with the arrest of Mohammed Junaid Mohammed Ata (28) on May 24 for his alleged links with LeT operatives from Jammu and Kashmir and abroad, the Maharashtra ATS has till now arrested a total of four suspects. A senior ATS official said that a chargesheet was filed on Saturday last week against the four arrested suspects and one wanted suspect. The official said that the main charges under which the chargesheet has been filed are of Indian Penal Code sections 121A (Conspiracy to wage war against Government of India) and 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups).

Mohammed Junaid Mohammed Ata, who hails from the Khamgaon taluka of the state’s Buldhana district, had been working at the shop of a scrap dealer in Dapodi in Pune. He was placed under arrest by the state ATS on May 24. Along with his alleged involvement in funding and recruitment for the LeT, the ATS also investigated multiple social accounts and phone messenger numbers used by him.

On June 2, ATS arrested another wanted suspect in the same case, Aftab Hussain Shah (28) — a carpenter from Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district. ATS has claimed that Shah was the link between Junaid and LeT operatives based outside India. Then, on June 10, the ATS took custody of Inamul Haque (20) who was already lodged in the Deoband Jail in Saharanpur following his arrest from the district by the Uttar Pradesh ATS for his alleged links with LeT operatives in Pakistan. Haque originally hails from Giridih in Jharkhand. On June 14, the ATS arrested a fourth suspect in the case, identified as Mohammed Yusuf from Doda District of Jammu and Kashmir who was allegedly in contact with Junaid.

Along with Mohammed Junaid Mohammed Ata, Aftab Hussain Shah, Inamul Haque and Mohammed Yusuf, the ATS has also chargesheeted a wanted suspect identified as Omar who is an alleged LeT operatives based outside of India.

After receiving intelligence inputs in December last year, the ATS had investigated a phone-messenger group titled “Ansar Gazawat-ul Hind/Tawheed” in which several anti-national terror activities were allegedly being discussed and planned since 2021 while its members were allegedly brainwashed, said the ATS.

Junaid, who was a part of the group, was also in direct contact with LeT operatives in Jammu and Kashmir and outside India, the ATS has claimed. The ATS also claimed that Junaid had received money for the task he was assigned to “recruit youths into LeT and convince them to go to Jammu and Kashmir for training”.