2 days after arrest by ATS, youth's landlady, employer, clueless about his ‘Al Qaeda link'
Senior police officers said that they had no prior intelligence about the 25-year-old, identified as Zeeshan Ali, who hails from Meerut.
The ATS had said that the four accused were allegedly using social media to radicalise and recruit people, and encourage them to adopt extremist ideologies.
Zeeshan had been seen frequently at Sainik Communication, from where he was picked up. Shop owner, Mohammad Asad, who is currently in Meerut, told The Indian Express that he had no idea about Zeeshan's alleged link to the terror outfit. 'I hired him as he belonged to a village near my maternal hometown in Meerut. He would be at the shop in my absence,' he said.
Shopkeepers of the neighbouring shops recalled that Zeeshan would mostly play games on his phone. According to locals, on July 7, he had rented a room in Chotpur, just across the road. Khurseedha, the woman who rented him the room, said: 'He paid Rs 2,500 in advance. I had asked for his Aadhaar and he had said he would bring it. He never really stayed so we had no idea what he was involved in.'
Other residents of the area said they last saw him five days ago and claimed that he would often arrive on different bikes.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
40 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Dog babu', red faces and an FIR: How did a canine end up on residential certificate in Patna?
The Patna administration has been left red in the face after its Masaurhi block office issued a residential certificate in the name of a dog, complete with name, address details, a photograph and a QR code as a mark of authentication. Issued on July 24, the certificate now stands cancelled. This assumes significance at a time when residential certificates have become the most sought-after document of the 11 required for Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. Patna District Magistrate Thiyagarajan SM told The Indian Express that 'the certificate was cancelled two minutes after it was issued'. 'An FIR is being filed. We will identify the applicant through the cyber cell and take strict action. The revenue karmachari and their manager are being suspended,' he said. On their part, officials at the Masaurhi office put it down to a 'gross lapse' on account of a surge in applications. The certificate carried the digital signature of the revenue officer. Typically, the manager of the Right to Public Service Centre (RTPS) at any block office is required to match address details on an online application with an attached document, Aadhaar cards, EPIC, or bank passbook copy showing the applicants' address while issuing such certificates. The now-cancelled residential certificate shows an image of a dog. The text in Hindi reads: 'This is to certify that Dog Babu, father: Kutta Babu, mother: Kutiya Devi, is a permanent resident of village/mohalla: Kaulichak, ward number-15, post office: Masaurhi, PIN- 804452, police station, block- Masaurhi, sub-division-Masaurhi, district-Patna, Bihar.' The certificate was digitally signed by a revenue officer, with a QR code on the bottom left to mark its authenticity under the Bihar Right to Public Services Act, 2011. The official was not available for comment. With the certificate now standing cancelled, a scan of the QR on the certificate no longer throws up results. According to officials, the Masaurhi revenue officer and RTPS centre manager are 'prima facie found guilty of not verifying the name, address, and photograph on the application clearly showing the image of a dog in the photograph box'. 'They also did not check the attached document, Aadhaar card image, and the address mentioned on it. The details obviously did not match,' one official said. A Masaurhi police officer said: 'The accused seems to have applied through a cyber cafe using someone else's Aadhaar number. The cyber cell will help us identify the source from where the application form was filed. As of now, an FIR will be filed against unknown persons under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Information Technology Act, 2000'. Details will be dealt with during the police investigation, the Patna DM, Thiyagarajan SM, said. Typically, anyone can apply for a residential certificate online through RTPS with or without logging in as a registered user. In most cases, people apply through cyber cafes, often without logging in to the RTPS site. For a residential certificate, one has to fill out a form with one's complete address. Once the form is filled, it asks for one's photograph, and a photocopy of either Aadhaar or bank passbook. Once the form is submitted, it takes 6-15 days to process. The RTPS centre has to match details in the form – including one's photo — with supporting documents. Although it's usually the manager who issues the certificate, the final issuing authority is the digital signatory revenue officer, who has to check each certificate before it's uploaded online. Between 2011 and 2025, about 13 crore residential certificates have been issued in Bihar. After ECI started Special Intensive Revision (SIR) on 25 June, about 55 lakh residential applications have been received at the RTPS centre. About 15 lakh applications are still pending. Residential certificate — one of 11 ECI-mandated documents for SIR — is the easiest to secure. Santosh Singh is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express since June 2008. He covers Bihar with main focus on politics, society and governance. Investigative and explanatory stories are also his forte. Singh has 25 years of experience in print journalism covering Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. ... Read More
News18
an hour ago
- News18
Dhami asks Uttarakhand officials to make anti-conversion law more stringent
Dehradun, Jul 28 (PTI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday expressed concern over recent incidents of attempted conversions in the state and asked officials to make the anti-conversion law more stringent. Proper counselling and guidance should be provided to people caught in the trap of elements indulging in conversion, Dhami said at a meeting held with senior officials at the secretariat. 'In view of recent incidents, immediate steps should be taken to make the anti-conversion law more stringent, " he said. In a joint effort, the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand police recently arrested six individuals linked to the Chhangur gang, an international religious conversion racket operating out of Pakistan and Dubai. Noting that Operation Kalanemi — targeting people impersonating saints, cheating the public and defaming Sanatan — which was launched earlier this month, has been successful in curbing such elements. He said the campaign, which is aimed at people hurting the image of Sanatan, needs to be carried forward. He said an SIT should be constituted at the state police headquarters level to monitor the campaign. 'Uttarakhand is a border state as well as the sacred land of Sanatan. Therefore, any attempt to change its demography should strictly be thwarted," he said, asking the police to keep an eye on such suspicious activities. The Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, amended in 2022, prohibits religious conversion through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or any fraudulent means. It is a cognisable and non-bailable offence, punishable by imprisonment of three to ten years and a fine of at least Rs 50,000. Additionally, the court may order the accused to pay compensation of up to Rs 5 lakh to the victim. PTI ALM ALM KSS KSS (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: July 28, 2025, 16:15 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
GRP seize hawala cash Rs 29.67L at PDDU Junction in UP
VARANASI: During a checking drive, the teams of GRP and RPF caught a carrier, Mafizul Sheikh, from a compartment of the Gurumukhi Express following the recovery of unaccounted cash worth Rs 29.67 lakh at Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction in Chandauli district after Sunday night. Income Tax officials were investigating the matter. GRP Inspector Sunil Kumar Singh said that when the Kolkata-bound Gurumukhi Express train reached PDDU Junction after midnight, he and RPF Inspector Pradeep Kumar Rawat, along with their teams, started checking its bogies as part of an alert sounded in view of the Shrawan month crowd. During the same drive, they reached a compartment where a youth identified as Mafizul Sheikh, a resident of Rampur Hat district, Birbhum, West Bengal, tried to escape on seeing men in khaki heading towards him. On seeing this, the GRP and RPF personnel caught him and checked his bag, in which cash amounting to Rs 29.67 lakh was recovered. As he failed to produce any document in support of the huge cash being carried by him, he was taken to the GRP station, and officials of the Income Tax Department were called from Varanasi for further investigation. He divulged that he boarded the Gurumukhi Express train from Nangal Dam to reach Kolkata for delivering the cash. However, he could not reveal the name of the person who gave him the cash or those who were to receive this amount from him in Kolkata.
