ATS probes use of Signal app to spread anti-national propaganda, FIR registered

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on late Sunday registered an FIR and launched a probe into an alleged inter-state module that was utilizing encrypted messaging platforms to flow into anti-national content material and radicalise youth to perform fidayeen (suicide) assaults.
According to ATS officers, a gaggle was lively on safe platforms similar to Signal (below the title Al-Maut-ul-Hind), Instagram (Green Birds), Discord (Strangers), and WhatsApp, the place they shared content material selling jihad, inspired assaults on Indian safety forces, and mentioned concentrating on Hindu leaders and Israeli institutions in India.
The FIR was filed on Thursday by ATS Sub-Inspector Rahul Satyal in opposition to three youths, two of whom belong to Sambhal and one from Patna. Their identities haven’t been revealed, and an interrogation with the ATS workforce is being carried out.
Sources within the ATS stated the group was allegedly conspiring to destabilise the nation by pushing violent narratives on-line and planning focused strikes. “The suspects were reportedly engaged in testing explosives and practising with air and pellet guns. They also shared training videos and posts to recruit new members for “suicide missions,” the ATS acknowledged within the FIR.
“Initial inputs suggest that the accused were part of a larger network preparing for proxy warfare against the Indian govt,” stated a senior ATS official. “They aimed to foment communal tension and incite attacks on sensitive installations.”
The FIR has been lodged at ATS’s Gomtinagar police station below sections of UAPA, the Foreigners Act, and Explosives Act, and additional investigation is underway to determine different members of the module and hint their funding sources.
The ATS has roped in technical consultants to observe digital trails throughout a number of platforms and is coordinating with central companies for deeper intelligence.