The Jammu and Kashmir Police’s investigation into a Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) terror network spanning multiple states, now dismantled with nine arrests and the recovery of over 2,900 kg of explosives, bomb-making materials, and two AK-series weapons, began with something as ordinary as a few posters.
How a Set of Posters Sparked the Crackdown
According to TOI, the first lead surfaced in mid-October when Jaish posters threatening attacks on security forces appeared secretly in Nowgam, Srinagar. Such posters, once common before 2019, had become rare, which caught the attention of Srinagar SSP G V Sundeep Chakravarthy, who had earlier led the J&K Police component in Operation Mahadev that neutralised the three Pahalgam attackers.
Determined to trace the origin of the posters, Chakravarthy ordered a detailed investigation. CCTV footage soon identified three overground workers (OGWs) with a past record of stone-pelting. Their arrest led to a chain of revelations that exposed a deeper terror plot.
The Cleric Who Linked It All
Interrogation of the OGWs brought the police to Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a cleric from Shopian. His questioning, spread over nearly three weeks, unearthed the outlines of a Jaish-e-Muhammed network operating across Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.
Among those subsequently arrested were:
The Expanding Web
In addition to the three OGWs who put up the posters, police also detained:
Radicalisation Through Religious Channels
Investigators discovered that Mutlasha was also part of a pan-India radical group named Farzandan e Darul Uloom Deoband. During questioning, Irfan confessed that he had seen an AK-47 rifle at the home of a doctor he had radicalised, later identified by Mutlasha as Dr Muzammil Ganaie. Muzammil was traced to Al-Falah University, where he worked alongside Dr Adeel and Dr Umar.
Delhi in the Crosshairs?
Though interrogation continues to determine the exact motive, investigators suspect a plot to carry out terror attacks in India’s hinterland, possibly targeting Delhi due to its proximity to Faridabad.
“The idea was to use the cover of being medical professionals to escape suspicion. Given the massive quantity of explosives and other bomb-making material, it seems they were collected over two years,” an officer connected with the probe told TOI.
The arrests mark one of the largest crackdowns on Jaish’s sleeper networks in recent years, one that began with a few posters, but uncovered a far-reaching conspiracy stretching from the valleys of Kashmir to the outskirts of the national capital.
Inputs from TOI
How a Set of Posters Sparked the Crackdown
According to TOI, the first lead surfaced in mid-October when Jaish posters threatening attacks on security forces appeared secretly in Nowgam, Srinagar. Such posters, once common before 2019, had become rare, which caught the attention of Srinagar SSP G V Sundeep Chakravarthy, who had earlier led the J&K Police component in Operation Mahadev that neutralised the three Pahalgam attackers.
Determined to trace the origin of the posters, Chakravarthy ordered a detailed investigation. CCTV footage soon identified three overground workers (OGWs) with a past record of stone-pelting. Their arrest led to a chain of revelations that exposed a deeper terror plot.
The Cleric Who Linked It All
Interrogation of the OGWs brought the police to Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a cleric from Shopian. His questioning, spread over nearly three weeks, unearthed the outlines of a Jaish-e-Muhammed network operating across Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.
Among those subsequently arrested were:
- Dr Muzammil Ganaie, a Pulwama native working at Faridabad’s Al-Falah University.
- Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather, originally from Qazigund and picked up from Saharanpur.
- Dr Shaheen Sayeed, from Lucknow and reportedly Muzammil’s girlfriend.
- A fourth doctor, Dr Umar from Pulwama, remains absconding.
The Expanding Web
In addition to the three OGWs who put up the posters, police also detained:
- Hafiz Mohd Ishtiyak, a cleric from Mewat who arranged logistics in Faridabad.
- Maulvi Irfan Ahmad and his associate from Ganderbal, Zameer Ahmad Ahanger alias Mutlasha, who led investigators to Muzammil.
Radicalisation Through Religious Channels
Investigators discovered that Mutlasha was also part of a pan-India radical group named Farzandan e Darul Uloom Deoband. During questioning, Irfan confessed that he had seen an AK-47 rifle at the home of a doctor he had radicalised, later identified by Mutlasha as Dr Muzammil Ganaie. Muzammil was traced to Al-Falah University, where he worked alongside Dr Adeel and Dr Umar.
Delhi in the Crosshairs?
Though interrogation continues to determine the exact motive, investigators suspect a plot to carry out terror attacks in India’s hinterland, possibly targeting Delhi due to its proximity to Faridabad.
“The idea was to use the cover of being medical professionals to escape suspicion. Given the massive quantity of explosives and other bomb-making material, it seems they were collected over two years,” an officer connected with the probe told TOI.
The arrests mark one of the largest crackdowns on Jaish’s sleeper networks in recent years, one that began with a few posters, but uncovered a far-reaching conspiracy stretching from the valleys of Kashmir to the outskirts of the national capital.
Inputs from TOI
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