Two middle-aged men from Bengaluru and Kashmir were detained by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for supporting terrorism on social media. These individuals desired to join terrorist organisations and rule India according to Sharia law. They were prepared to give their lives in retaliation for the Jihad.
The narrative of the upcoming movie “72 Hoorian,” which delves deeply into the world of terrorists and their ideologies, is remarkably similar to the tales of these men. In the movie, terrorists are drawn into Jihad by false promises made by Jannat and Hoor. The two accused who have been identified as Saddam Sheikh and Rizwan Khan also were waiting to sacrifice their lives for Jihad.
Both of these men frequently shared and uploaded videos on social media that encouraged terrorism and the Jihad. They expressed respect to terrorists like Osama bin Laden, Zakir Musa, Sameer Tiger, and to terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba. Saddam Sheikh wanted India to be governed as per Sharia law.
His Social media handle is filled with such posts & have been withheld & blocked a number of times. Saddam kept posting radical content, so as to get in touch with terror outfits.
— Subhi Vishwakarma (@subhi_karma) July 5, 2023
Rizwan Khan a native of Kashmir's Poonch, moved to Uttar Pradesh & Bihar for work
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Saddam, the 38-year-old son of Munshi Miya, was a driver for the NTC firm and a resident of Bengaluru’s Dhabsapet area. He caught ATS’s attention because of his offensive social media posts. He had his accounts withheld several times as a result of his contentious posts.
The ATS obtained an investigative warrant and summoned Saddam to their office after the initial monitoring. Saddam acknowledged during the initial investigations that Al-Oaeda, Ansar-Gazwat-ul Hind, and Hizb-ul were influential on him. Saddam said that he had the same ideals as terrorists like Osama bin Laden, Zakir Musa, Riyaz Nayaku, Naved Jat, and Sameer Tiger. He also had a cell phone that the ATS used to recover questionable information on these terrorists.
Saddam used to post videos and talks of these terrorists and terror organisations to influence other users since he wanted to be a mujahid. He intended to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling over the Babri Mosque because he was upset with it. He made a number of social media accounts that were restricted or withheld by Facebook for their controversial content.
According to a report, one of the motives behind Saddam’s social media postings was his desire for these extreme organisations to get in touch with them and attain training. Saddam planned to assemble an army by enlisting all Muslims who were in precarious situations or harboured resentments towards the Indian political system.
He wanted India to make the transition to Islam and adopt Sharia as its primary legal system. Saddam was in contact with Pakistani terrorist organisations using IMO, and his profile image featured posters for ISIS, Al-Badr, and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
After conducting an investigation, the ATS arrested Saddam on July 1 and filed a FIR (number-04/2023) against him at the ATS police station in Lucknow. Saddam has been charged with violating UAPA sections 13/18/38 and 121-A.
On the other hand Rizwan stated that he wanted to sacrifice his life for Islam. The ATS personnel were alerted by intelligence that a man from Kashmir who is connected to terrorism is residing in several areas of Uttar Pradesh. After some research, the ATS discovered abusive posts and videos from Rizwan’s handle that aroused suspicion.
Rizwan was charged with using social media to spread hate speech and recruit followers for the same by spreading contentious remarks. He briefly stayed in Unnao and was employed as a security guard at the Indango Food Private Limited meat plant. Rizwan was being held in custody while residing in Farbis Ganj, Bihar, and working as a security guard for Marhaba Frozen Food Private Limited.
Rizwan was summoned to the headquarters by the ATS as part of a procedure using an investigation warrant, where he admitted to sharing radical content on social media. Rizwan was motivated by militants and weaponry because he aspired to join the Mujahideen in the future.
The ATS discovered images from his profile of anti-national music, weaponry, and terrorist training camps. Rizwan confessed that he aspired to be a terrorist like Burhan Wani (Hizb-ul-Mujaheeddin and Mujahid) and terrorists Zakir Musa (who led the Tanjim Group and Ansar-Gazwat-ul-Hind).
Rizwan Khan said, “Jihad ki raah par fida hone ke liye, lnshah Allah mai apni baari ka intezar kar raha tha”(I was waiting for my turn to sacrifice my life for Jihad). Following the interrogations, the ATS detained Rizwan and registered an FIR (number-05/2023) against him at the ATS police station, Lucknow. He also has been booked under IPC sections 121-A and 123 with sections 13/18/38 of the UAPA.
