Two men arrested in Binol tell police Pakistan-linked handlers target teenagers

New Delhi: Two men arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor told police that a handler with links to Pakistan was trying to build a network in India using social media platforms. The handler is currently living in Saudi Arabia and has been contacting people online, police said on Saturday.Uvaid Malik and Jalal Haider were arrested following a tip-off about their alleged links to Aqib. Aqib is a native of Sathla village in Mawana district of Meerut and is currently in West Asia. Najibabad SP Anjani Kumar Chaturvedi said on Saturday that Aqib came to attention after a video surfaced on Instagram on November 23 in which he was allegedly armed with an AK-47 rifle and explosives.

During interrogation, the two accused told police that Aqib used Instagram to spread inflammatory content and incite young people against Hindus. Police said he also encouraged anti-national activities through his posts.Investigators found that Uvaid and Jalal came into contact with Aqib and another man, Maizul, while working in Surat about three years ago. Maizul is currently based in South Africa and is believed to be part of the same network.Police said Uwede planned to flee to Nepal on the advice of his contacts. Teams are currently looking for Aqib, Maizul, Sameer and Azad in connection with the case.