Bengaluru woman arrested by Gujarat ATS in crackdown on ‘Al Qaeda module'
Parveen's arrest follows the July 22 arrests of four others — Mohd Fardeen from Ahmedabad, Mohd Faiq from Delhi, Zeeshan Ali from Noida, and Sefullah Kureshi from Modasa in Gujarat's Aravalli district. These four were booked under multiple sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for allegedly promoting radical content linked to AQIS via Instagram and Facebook.
A Gujarat ATS team led by DySP Virjeetsinh Parmar, with assistance from central agencies and Bengaluru city police, located and arrested Parveen on July 29. She was produced before the 8th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court in Bengaluru, where Judge Vishwanath granted Gujarat Police a transit warrant.
According to Gujarat ATS, a preliminary examination of Parveen's mobile phone revealed she was allegedly operating flagged Instagram and Facebook accounts from the investigations into the earlier accused, and had uploaded speeches of AQIS leaders like Maulana Asim Umar and Anwar al-Awlaki that promoted violent jihad and Ghazwa-e-Hind. She had also allegedly shared videos of Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lahore's Lal Masjid, which officials claim called for an armed struggle to overthrow the Indian government and foment communal discord.
Officials further alleged that Parveen was also in contact with individuals linked to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) through social media and that her online activity aimed to radicalise individuals and gain support for extremist movements.
Following her arrest, Parveen was brought to Ahmedabad on a transit remand for further legal proceedings. Officials said that a more detailed examination of her phone revealed additional alleged social media handles, email accounts, and suspected links with foreign and Pakistani-based entities. Intelligence and police teams in Karnataka are now probing her local associations and any wider network she may have had.
According to Gujarat ATS officials, investigations into the online activities of the earlier accused led them to an Instagram account allegedly operated by Mohd Faiq — 'sharyat_ya_shahadat' — which had reposted provocative content from accounts titled 'strangers_nation02', 'Strangers Of The Nation' and 'Strangers Of The Nation 2'.
Further digital forensics had allegedly pointed investigators to Parveen. According to officials, Parveen was staying with her brother, who works for a private firm.
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