After 20 days of investigating, a Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) squad on August 28 apprehended one individual, who was planning bomb blasts, from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. The arrested man was planning and had threatened to carry out serial bomb attacks in several areas in Nainital.
According to the reports, the accused person has been identified as Khalid though his previous name was Nitin Sharma. He confessed during the investigation that he had converted his religion to Islam. The STF is interrogating Khalid who had warned to carry out attacks with bombs in the name of the terrorist organization Hizbul Mujahideen.
“On July 17 this year, the accused Nitin Sharma threatened the Nainital Media Cell police through Facebook Messenger that serial bomb blasts would take place in the next 24 hours,” Uttarakhand STF’s Additional Superintendent of Police Chandra Mohan Singh said to the media.
On October 4, 2022, the Nainital Police Control Room received bomb threats over social media. The message sent on the official Facebook page of Nainital Police read, “We will blast bombs in different parts of Nainital district within 24 hours and Hizbul Mujahideen takes the responsibility.”
After the police took cognizance of the threat, a case was registered against Khalid at Tallital police station. However, on July 27, the police received a similar message on Facebook. After this, the case was transferred to STF’s cyber police in Dehradun.
Reports mention that the investigation led by the deputy superintendent of cyber police Ankush Mishra helped the police nab the accused from Vijayawada on August 28.
The ASP stated that no tangible evidence has been produced to prove that the accused has links to international terrorist gangs. However, the STF affirmed that bomb threat complaints have been filed against the accused in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala.
ASP also stated that the accused is 10th pass but was digitally clever. The accused, as per the police, did not leave any digital footprint that could help the police nab him easily. The arrested accused will have to appear before the Nainital court.
According to STF sources quoted by the New Indian Express, Nitin Sharma, a Delhi resident who completed Class 10, admitted during interrogation that he had converted his religion to Islam and that he goes to different mosques to pray. He also confessed that there was no one backing him.
“Preliminary interrogation and investigation has revealed that the accused Nitin Sharma alias Khalid used to visit mosques in different states and collect money from there,” ASP Singh informed.
The ASP also revealed that though Nitin had converted his religion to Islam and changed his name to Khalid, all his IDs continued to identify him as Nitin Sharma. “He has not been talking much during the interrogation but has revealed that he has converted to Islam and is now called Khalid. However, all his IDs show Nitin Sharma as his real name. He has also not stated clearly why he sent those texts to the police. It appears that he did those texts for amusement,” the police added.
The Police also added that the accused had no psychological problems as learned from the investigation so far. “It is an ongoing investigation and police will gather more information about the case,” the ASP stated.
