6 held in Ghaziabad for links to JeM propaganda

Ghaziabad police have arrested six persons for allegedly promoting and supporting banned terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed through social media and messaging platforms.

Authorities have registered a case against the accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

According to police officials, the group was allegedly operating a WhatsApp network where members shared propaganda material, training videos and links related to the banned terrorist organisation.

Investigators said the group was also circulating messages aimed at radicalising youth and provoking anti-national sentiments.

The police said the main accused, identified as Savej, a resident of Nahal village in Masuri area, had created the WhatsApp group and added several local youths to it.

During interrogation, Savej reportedly said he had studied up to Class 12 and worked at a grocery store. He had earlier lived in a mosque in Nahal village for nearly six years and currently resides in Ajij Nagar Colony in Masuri. Officials said Savej became influenced after watching videos on Facebook and Instagram depicting alleged atrocities against people from his community.

He later started discussions about such content with others at a madrasa in the village and subsequently created the WhatsApp group to spread awareness among people about what he described as oppression against his religion.

The police further revealed that one of the arrested accused, Ikram Ali, has family links to Bangladesh, and investigators are also probing the background of his mother Sahida in connection with the case.

The six arrested individuals have been identified as Savej, Abdul Qadeem, Junaid, Fardeen, Ikram Ali, Fazal and Javed. Among the accused are a lawyer, a law student and a mosque cleric, police said.

Additional DCP Lipi Nagaich said police conducted raids in Nahal village along with Masuri police station officials and detained the suspects. During the operation, several mobile phones were seized from the accused.

Rural DCP Surendranath Tiwari said that preliminary examination of the devices revealed messages related to anti-national activities. Police teams and cyber experts are currently analysing emails, WhatsApp chats and other social media accounts of the suspects.

According to investigators, some chats recovered from the phones suggest that members of the group were sharing extremist content and encouraging others to support the banned organisation.

All six accused were produced before a court and later sent to judicial custody. Police said further investigation is underway to determine whether the group had links to any larger network or external handlers.