Alert intelligence and decisive action by Gujarat ATS neutralized a brewing terror storm in Navsari on Tuesday. The prime suspect, 22-year-old Faizan Sheikh from Rampur’s Dundawala village in Uttar Pradesh, was apprehended after four years of quiet life as a tailor in Jarkvada.
The plot involved meticulously planning assassinations of specific targets to foment terror, intertwined with propaganda for jihadist causes and separatist agendas. ATS, tipped off about the violent blueprints, collaborated with district police for the takedown.
Probe deepened through tech analysis, pinpointing Sheikh’s extremist Instagram handle. His device revealed proscribed content backing Jaish-e-Mohammed and Al-Qaeda, target photographs, and 29 pages of radicalizing manuscripts in Arabic and Urdu targeting impressionable youth.
A pistol and six live bullets were recovered from his possession, sourced six months prior from an unknown UP supplier, as per his confession. DSP Harsh Upadhyay noted ongoing efforts to name the intended victims, anticipating tech reports in 2-3 days.
This operation exemplifies the perils of digital radicalization and the ATS’s robust defenses. As Gujarat fortifies its security grid, the case serves as a stark reminder of vigilance against ideological poisons spreading via the internet.