Social media, surveillance help cops crack ISIS module

Five suspected ISIS operatives, who were arrested in a joint operation spread across different states, specialise in manufacturing chemical weapons and were running a “Khilafat” module to recruit youngsters for the organisation through social media.

The accused first came on the radar of law enforcement agencies through social media where they were recruiting radical ideology people. A surveillance was mounted, leading to their arrest.

The “Khilafat” module basically refers to occupying a place and then carrying out “jihad”. The model was handled from Pakistan.

According to the police, Ashhar Danish, the kingpin of the module, began listening to lectures of Dr Israr Ahmad, a Pakistani Islamic scholar in 2024, and gradually adopted radical beliefs.

During this time, he came in contact with individuals like Aaftab Qureshi and Izhar-Ul-Haq on Instagram who shared similar ideology. Together they created a group on Instagram and added around 40 people, where discussions centered on establishing Caliphate.

Similarly, another accused Aaftab Nasir Qureshi began consuming radical Islamic content around 2020, including speeches of Tariq Masood, Zakir Naik, Israr Ahmed and Tariq Jameel.

He became a member of radical groups discussing Jihadi ideologies and connected with Ashhar Danish through various social media platforms.

The other three individuals - Kamran Qureshi, Sufiyan Abubakar and Mohammed Huzaif Yaman - also got connected with them to spread the radical ideology for Gazwa-e-Hind, the cops mentioned.

The accused were part of the sleeper module of the terror organisation ISIS and were tasked with making bombs, procuring weapons and increasing the strength of the outfit.