Mumbai, October 24, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a 33-year-old man suspected of links with the banned terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) from Mumbai’s Mahim area, officials said on Saturday.
The accused, identified as Mohammad Hasan Abu Sarmad Akhtar, was apprehended by the ATS’s Kalachowki unit near Mahim Metro station following a tip-off.
According to investigators, Akhtar allegedly used his work as a Rapido rider and perfume seller as a cover while propagating radical ideology. The ATS alleged that he attempted to spread communal hatred and anti-national sentiments through social media platforms.
Investigators also claimed to have recovered material allegedly linked to these activities from his mobile phone.
According to the ATS, the accused operated a Telegram group through which he allegedly uploaded inflammatory audio speeches by Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar on the Babri Masjid and other issues on June 1. The agency further alleged that he was an active member of a Pakistan-backed extremist Telegram channel called ‘IBN-e-Qasim’.
The arrest comes amid continuing investigations into alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed networks in western India.
In July, the Gujarat ATS arrested five people from Khadiyal village in Siddhpur taluka of Patan district in connection with an alleged terror module linked to the banned outfit.
The five were identified as Bilal Abidbhai Shera, Mohammad Ayub Kadiwala, Mohammad Palanpuri alias Khali Ayub Sunsara, Shafia Rais Mukhti and Mohammad Hasan Kardia. Officials said their names emerged during an investigation into eight alleged JeM operatives arrested earlier that month.
The five suspects were subsequently produced before Judicial Magistrate R.M. Bhatia in Kadi town of Mehsana district and remanded to ATS custody until July 24.
Public Prosecutor P.R. Dantani had told the court that custodial interrogation was necessary to establish the alleged activities of the accused. He claimed that one suspect had attempted to make a time bomb and that investigators were searching for bomb-making materials and Urdu literature allegedly associated with JeM.
Investigators were also seeking to establish the source of the suspected bomb-making materials, where they had been concealed and how the accused had obtained the literature.
The latest arrest in Mumbai adds another dimension to the ongoing investigations into suspected activities linked to the banned organisation. The allegations against Akhtar remain subject to investigation.
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