Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad questions 57 in contact with Pakistani gangster
During inquiry, more than 10 people were picked from Mumbai, few from Pune.
Shahzad Bhatti, a gangster from Pakistan who is now suspected to be in Dubai. (Express Photo, enhanced using AI) Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) have picked up 57 people across the state who allegedly came in contact with Pakistani gangster Shahzad Bhatti on Wednesday. The agency swung into action as soon as they learnt about Bhatti directly or indirectly in touch with them through social media for anti-national activities.
During inquiry, more than 10 people were picked from Mumbai, few from Pune. But the maximum number of people were picked from the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR).
Several teams in the state were formed and they immediately traced the people’s location, most of them were brought to the ATS units are being questioned. A senior officer said, the people were in touch with Bhatti and their connection has been found on social media. The team have been scrutinising the contents and gathering evidence to take further legal action.
The agency is suspecting that Bhatti is inciting several youths in the country to engage in anti national activities through social media.
Earlier, in the first week of March, ATS conducted raids at three locations across Mumbai in connection with suspected online propaganda linked to banned organisations and seized several electronic devices.
The action followed specific intelligence inputs indicating that certain individuals were allegedly spreading extremist material online and were suspected to have connections with handlers based abroad. Officials said the suspects were believed to be disseminating propaganda for banned organisations through digital platforms.
The raids were carried out at two locations in Govandi and one in Kurla. Mobile phones, laptops and other electronic devices seized during the operation.
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