ATS | Business Upturn

Indian Embassy Employee Arrested in Meerut for Alleged Espionage on Behalf of ISI

Aditya Bhagchandani — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 18:54:49 +0000

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has apprehended Satendra Siwal, an employee of the Indian Embassy in Moscow, in Meerut, for his alleged involvement in espionage on behalf of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI. Siwal, identified as a Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) in the Ministry of External Affairs, was reportedly lured by ISI handlers offering financial incentives in exchange for sensitive information related to the Indian Army.

The ATS initiated the operation based on intelligence received from confidential sources, indicating that ISI was attempting to recruit Indian Ministry of External Affairs employees for obtaining critical information. The information exchanged was deemed to pose a significant threat to India’s internal and external security.

Hailing from Shahmahiuddinpur village in Hapur, Siwal was accused of exploiting his position within the Indian Embassy in Moscow to extract confidential documents. Motivated by financial gain, he allegedly shared critical information concerning the strategic activities of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, and Indian military establishments with ISI handlers.

“The ATS was receiving intelligence from various confidential sources that the handlers of the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, through some persons, were luring the employees of the Ministry of External Affairs with money to obtain strategically and strategically important information related to the Indian Army that is likely to pose a huge threat to the internal and external security of India,” stated the ATS in an official statement.

Following extensive intelligence gathering and surveillance, Siwal was interrogated at the ATS Field Unit in Meerut. Failing to provide satisfactory answers, he eventually confessed to his involvement in spy activities. Siwal had been serving as an India Based Security Assistant (IBSA) at the Indian Embassy in Moscow since 2021.

An FIR has been registered against Siwal under sections related to waging war against the country and the Official Secrets Act. The Ministry of External Affairs acknowledged Siwal’s arrest and is collaborating with investigative authorities in the ongoing case.

Pakistan’s Seema Haider under ATS scanner; illegal travel route to enter India under probe

Adesh Dixit — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 12:23:12 +0000

The buzz around the story of Pakistani woman Seema Ghulam Haider, who illegally crossed into Indian territory to marry and live with her Indian lover took yet another turn on Monday as the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist squad started their investigation into the case.

The UP ATS will be investigating and tracing back the routes that Seema Haider took during her journey to India as reported by Zee News.

The ATS will also be investigating the full profile of Seema Haider and her family, the routes she took to cross and enter Indian borders and the mobile phone numbers she used on her way into India. The probe will be conducted from all angles.

Seema travelled from Pakistan to Dubai and from Dubai to Nepal. She entered Indian borders through Nepal which raised serious concerns around the security. She along with her boyfriend were arrested for entering India without a valid Visa. Her boyfriend Sachin was arrested on the charges of helping her but were later granted bail and are currently living in Noida.

Seema has apparently converted her religion to Hinduism and she along with her boyfriend Sachin are urging Indian Government to let her stay in the country and marry each other. Her action evoked reactions from her Pakistani family who has reportedly ostracized her for defying Muslim societal norms.

“I have accepted his religion and culture as my own and changed the names of my four children, who call Sachin ‘baba’. Sachin’s parents have also accepted me, and I have adopted all their cultural practices and will continue to live with them,” Seema Hider said in her Defence.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has expressed concern over the issue and urged the Sindh Home Department to promptly investigate the matter.

2 Al-Qaeda Operatives in custody, planned explosions in UP

Aayushi Singh — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 05:16:45 +0000

Prashant Kumar, the Additional Director General of Police said that the two residents of Lucknow, Minhaz Ahmed and Maseeruddin, were planning to unleash terror activities before the Independence day.

The two operatives of Al Qaeda linked Ansar Ghazwatul Hind were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police. It had been said by the ATS that the two arrested men, Minhaz Ahmed and Maseeruddin, had planned explosions, including the use of human bombs at several places in the state.

The Police had mentioned that Ahmed was a resident of Lucknow’s Dubagga Area, and Maseeruddin lived in Madiyaon area of Lucknow. Prashant Kumar said that a huge amount of explosives were seized from the houses of the two men.

Prashant Kumar further added that Ahmed and Maseeruddin were planning to unleash terror activities before August 15 in various cities of the state, including Lucknow. The members of this module were not only from Lucknow but were also from Kanpur.

The ADGP Prashant Kumar also said that the two accused were working under the instructions of Umar Halmandi, the head of the Uttar Pradesh module of Al-Qaeda.

Raids were conducted at different places by the ATS to catch the associates of the two terrorists who had escaped before Ahmed and Maseeruddin were arrested.

The accused Al-Qaeda operatives would be produced before the court and would be taken into a police custody afterwards.

The ATS recovered two semi-prepared IED- based pressure cooker bombs, explosive materials and pistol from the house of Ahmed and was now sealed under custody.

The police has intensified the checking at Uttar Pradesh, including the checking at airports, highways and bus stations.

Mehrazuddin Halwai, another Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist, encountered

Aayushi Singh — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 05:49:15 +0000

Hizbul Mujahideen, a top terrorist outfit, had been eliminated in an encounter in the Handwara district, as mentioned by the police on Wednesday. Mehrazuddin alias Ubaid was one of the oldest terrorists of the terror outfit. Vijay Kumar, the Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, had said that the killing of Mehrazuddin Halwai was a big success.

The Kashmir Zone Police in a tweet had said quoting the IGP Kashmir that one of the oldest and top commanders of HM terror outfit Mehrazuddin Halwai alias Ubaid had neutralized in the Handwara encounter, he was involved in many terror crimes, and the encounter was a big success for them.

On Wednesday morning, the security forces had launched a cordon and search operation at Pazipora-Renan in the Handwara area of the district, following the information about the presence of the militants there. The police said that the operation had turned into an encounter after the security forces were fired upon by Mehrazuddin Halwai.

The police also added that Mehrazuddin Halwai had been killed in retaliatory action by the security personnel.

Mehrazuddin Halwai, the encountered terrorist, at Ubaid had joined terrorist ranks in the year 2011, he had a diploma in computer application, he was also responsible for misusing social media and new methods of communications for terrorism.

One of the oldest & top commander of HM #terror outfit Mehrazuddin Halwai @ Ubaid got neutralised in #Handwara #encounter. He was involved in several terror crimes. A big success: IGP Kashmir.@JmuKmrPolice

— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) July 7, 2021

#HandwaraEncounterUpdate:
A contemporary of HM’s notorious #terrorist Burhan Wani. While Burhan was engaged in series of civilian/SFs #killings in South Kashmir, Mehrazuddin Halwai was involved in #killing of civilians/SFs in #NorthKashmir.@JmuKmrPolice

— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) July 7, 2021

Delhi&UP: The ED raids 6 places for illegal religious conversion to Islam

Aayushi Singh — Sat, 03 Jul 2021 10:28:54 +0000

On Sunday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted six raids in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in a connection with a recent allegation for forcing the conversion of poor and deaf students to Islam with funding from abroad.

The raids had been conducted at various locations in the national capital and adjoining states as confirmed by the officials. During the raids, several documents had been recovered which revealed that Mohammad Umar Gautam had conducted large scale religious conversions along with his organisations throughout India. The accused organisations had received several crores of foreign funding for the sole purpose of these illegal conversions.

The UP police’s ATS had arrested Umar Gautam earlier, who ran the Islamic Dawah Centre (IDC) outfit along with this associate Mufti Qazi Jahangir Alam Qasmi, both of them were residents of Jamia Nagar in Delhi. The police also claimed that the IDC had received funds from Pakistan’s inter services intelligence (ISI) along with other foreign agencies to carry out these religious conversions.

On Saturday, the ED officials had searched these locations in Delhi as well as the office of IDC and the residences of Umar Gautam and Mufti Qazi and all the places were in the Jamia Nagar of Delhi. Whereas in UP, the offices of Al Hassan Education and Welfare Foundation and Guidance Education and Welfare Society were raided, both of which resided in Lucknow, the organisations were run by Umar Gautam and had played an instrumental role in carrying out the illegal conversions.

The UP Police’s ATS discovered these cases in the previous month, after which the ED had lodged a criminal case under the provisions of the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act before it launched it’s own investigation in the case.