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The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad has arrested four individuals and foiled an alleged terror plot linked to Pakistan-based handlers, officials said on Saturday.
According to the ATS, the accused were in contact with Pakistan-based operatives through social media platforms and had been tasked with carrying out reconnaissance of key installations, including railway infrastructure and other sensitive locations.
The arrests, made on April 2, came after sustained intelligence surveillance. The handlers also had links to certain phone numbers in Afghanistan, according to the ATS.
The alleged ringleader has been identified as Saqib, alias 'Devil', a 25-year-old resident of Agwanpur village in Meerut's Parikshitgarh police station area. Three others arrested alongside him are Arbab (20), also from Meerut; Vikas Pehlawat, alias 'Raunak' (27), from Ram Vihar in Gautam Buddha Nagar; and Lokesh, alias 'Papla Pandit' (19).
Investigators say that the accused were motivated primarily by financial gain. In exchange for conducting reconnaissance missions and filming sensitive locations, they received payments routed through QR codes by their Pakistani handlers.
The handlers communicated through names such as "Osama bin Laden", "Farutullah Ghori", "Kashmir Mujahideen" and "Ghazwa-e-Hind", using religious incitement to push the gang into increasingly dangerous acts.
Before their arrest, the gang had conducted scouting missions across Ghaziabad, Aligarh, and Lucknow, targeting railways, government installations, and other sensitive infrastructure. Pakistani handlers directed them to specific locations by sending Google Maps coordinates. The accused filmed their reconnaissance visits and sent video footage back to Pakistan, serving as proof of activity in exchange for payment.
On April 2, the gang arrived near Lucknow Railway Station with the specific intent to damage signal infrastructure. ATS personnel, who had been tracking the accused, intercepted them at the scene. Authorities recovered a canister filled with inflammable material, seven smartphones, 24 pamphlets, and Aadhaar cards from the four accused.
A First Information Report has been registered at the ATS Police Station in Lucknow under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. All four have been produced before a court, and further investigation is underway.
Senior ATS officials said the operation has not only averted a potentially catastrophic attack on critical transport infrastructure, but has also unravelled a broader network with connections to radical groups across the border.
According to the ATS, the accused were in contact with Pakistan-based operatives through social media platforms and had been tasked with carrying out reconnaissance of key installations, including railway infrastructure and other sensitive locations.
The arrests, made on April 2, came after sustained intelligence surveillance. The handlers also had links to certain phone numbers in Afghanistan, according to the ATS.
Recruited for money, radicalised online
The alleged ringleader has been identified as Saqib, alias 'Devil', a 25-year-old resident of Agwanpur village in Meerut's Parikshitgarh police station area. Three others arrested alongside him are Arbab (20), also from Meerut; Vikas Pehlawat, alias 'Raunak' (27), from Ram Vihar in Gautam Buddha Nagar; and Lokesh, alias 'Papla Pandit' (19).
Investigators say that the accused were motivated primarily by financial gain. In exchange for conducting reconnaissance missions and filming sensitive locations, they received payments routed through QR codes by their Pakistani handlers.
The handlers communicated through names such as "Osama bin Laden", "Farutullah Ghori", "Kashmir Mujahideen" and "Ghazwa-e-Hind", using religious incitement to push the gang into increasingly dangerous acts.
Before their arrest, the gang had conducted scouting missions across Ghaziabad, Aligarh, and Lucknow, targeting railways, government installations, and other sensitive infrastructure. Pakistani handlers directed them to specific locations by sending Google Maps coordinates. The accused filmed their reconnaissance visits and sent video footage back to Pakistan, serving as proof of activity in exchange for payment.
Caught in the nick of time
On April 2, the gang arrived near Lucknow Railway Station with the specific intent to damage signal infrastructure. ATS personnel, who had been tracking the accused, intercepted them at the scene. Authorities recovered a canister filled with inflammable material, seven smartphones, 24 pamphlets, and Aadhaar cards from the four accused.
A First Information Report has been registered at the ATS Police Station in Lucknow under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. All four have been produced before a court, and further investigation is underway.
Senior ATS officials said the operation has not only averted a potentially catastrophic attack on critical transport infrastructure, but has also unravelled a broader network with connections to radical groups across the border.
