Kochi: The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has busted a gang allegedly involved in anti national activities, the New Indian Express reported.
They were conspiring to incite communal tension as part of waging a war against India. The arrests were part of a probe into radical online networks linked to Pakistan.
The UP ATS first detained Ajmal Ali,19 from Amroha in UP and his mentor Usama Maj Sheikh, 24, from Thane. Ajmal considered Usama as his mentor.
The ATS unearthed a WhatsApp group under the logo “Reviving Islam” followed by over 400 members majority of whom were reportedly based in Pakistan.
Ajmal was found promoting radical ideology against non-Muslim communities and propagating anti-India content across multiple social media platforms, said the ATS sources.
Ajmal confessed to his association with Pakistani nationals on other social media platforms. He considered Usama Maj Sheikh as his mentor.
Usama was operating through an Instagram handle, said the ATS sources. ATS added that Usama, son of Maj Sheikh, residing near a Dargah in Badlapur village under Badlapur West police station in Thane district of Maharashtra, was allegedly in regular touch with Ajmal through Instagram and the encrypted messaging platform Signal.
“They used to exchange views on overthrowing the democratically elected government of India and replacing it with Sharia law through violent jihad,” said an ATS source.
Usama Maj Sheikh was arrested on August 4, 2025, from his residence in Thane, Maharashtra.
As per the ATS sources, the preliminary inquiry revealed that the objective of both the persons was to incite communal hatred, provoke religious animosity, and prepare ground for a violent movement to establish Ghazwa-e-Hind—an Islamist concept of religious conquest—by spreading Sharia law through jihad.
UP ATS cops nab two
