JeM operative held by UP ATS before escape
The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and police on August 17 arrested Mohammad Zafar, a key member with direct ties to the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed, highlighting the ongoing threat of Pakistan-based terror networks in India. Authorities caught him just as he was about to cross into Pakistan. Intelligence reports indicate that a meeting between Zafar and Masood Azhar, the JeM chief, had been arranged. To help him escape, he got a passport through contacts in Bihar, likely to hide his connection to western Uttar Pradesh.
The arrest comes amid a series of coordinated operations conducted by the ATS and the State police. In the last seven months, 16 suspected terrorists have been caught across Hapur, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar. All of them have a direct operational connection with Meerut.
Various young men were drawn into the network, including Umar, Azad Rajput, and Tushar Chauhan, who are said to have come under the handlers’ influence and began carrying out tasks for the network, investigators say.
His arrest gave authorities valuable information about the larger ISI-backed network known as Shahzad Bhatti. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that this network, long suspected of handling ISI funding, radicalisation, and logistics, has been significantly weakened by these operations. Disrupting the Bhatti network is a major setback for the ISI’s efforts to rebuild its operations in India after earlier failures.
The recent arrests serve as a warning. Pakistani gangs and terrorists continue to see western Uttar Pradesh as a key area. The fact that several groups are linked to a single region shows that radicalisation channels remain active, even if some operatives have been caught.
For now, the network has taken a major hit. The challenge ahead is to make sure western Uttar Pradesh does not become the starting point for future plots, intelligence sources said.
