The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested a woman on Wednesday, 30th July, from Bengaluru for her suspected involvement with Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), a banned terrorist group. She is the fifth person to be held in the ongoing investigation.
ATS officials said the woman, identified as Shama Parveen, was “highly radicalised” and was running an online terror network. According to ATS officials, data recovered from her phone showed that she was in contact with several people in Pakistan.
The ATS collaborated with Bengaluru police to identify and locate Parveen. A joint team conducted a raid at Parveen’s residence in Manorayanapalya locality and arrested her. Parveen is a graduate degree holder and has been living in Bengaluru for three years with her brother, who is a software engineer.
Before this, according to some reports, ATS had already arrested four accused in connection with the same case. These include Md Faiq from Delhi, Md Fardeen from Ahmedabad, Sefullah Kureshi from Modasa, and Zeeshan Ali from Noida.
They have been booked under sections 13, 18, 38, 39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and sections 113, 152, 196, 61 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023.
Investigators say all five were part of an online group that worked through Instagram to share provocative and violent content, including jihadi videos and messages supporting terrorism. The group is believed to have operated accounts like ‘sharyat-ya-shahadat’, ‘f4rdeen_03’, ‘mujahideen 3’, and ‘seffulah_muja_hid313’.
The ATS claims they aimed to spread AQIS’s radical ideology under the name ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’. They allegedly tried to incite Indian Muslims to take up arms against the Indian government and promote a Sharia-based Islamic rule in India.
They have been charged under several sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
From one of the accused, Fardeen Shaikh, the ATS recovered literature linked to AQIS, which called for jihad in response to India’s “Operation Sindoor.” Another accused, Md Faiq, was allegedly in touch with a Pakistani Instagram user to coordinate anti-India propaganda.