Madhya Pradesh’s Anti-Terror Squad has arrested Mohammad Faraz, a coaching class teacher from Bhopal, for allegedly using encrypted social media groups to recruit and radicalise youths for a network investigators say was linked to Pakistan-based handlers.
Faraz, 35, was picked up from the Qazi Camp area of Old Bhopal after intelligence inputs suggested he was part of a closed online network operating through WhatsApp and Telegram. Investigators allege he was spreading extremist material, identifying vulnerable youths and working towards a wider ideological project aimed at establishing an Islamic state in India by 2047. The allegations are under investigation and have not yet been tested in court.
The arrest has widened into a multi-state probe. Two more men, Nayeem Abdullah Qureshi from Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh and Mohd Shakir from Alwar district in Rajasthan, have been taken into custody in connection with the same alleged module. Qureshi, 38, was arrested in a joint operation involving Madhya Pradesh ATS, Uttar Pradesh ATS, the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force and central intelligence agencies. Shakir, 34, was arrested after investigators traced suspected operational links beyond Bhopal. A fourth suspect is being tracked.
Faraz was produced before a special court in Bhopal and remanded to ATS custody till June 16 for questioning. The case has been registered at the STF police station in Bhopal under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 13 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Act, provisions dealing with threats to national sovereignty and alleged conspiracy linked to unlawful activity.
The ATS says Faraz admitted during questioning that he had been in contact for five to six years with Qureshi, who allegedly introduced him to a Pakistan-based handler. Investigators claim the handler encouraged Faraz to join jihad, told him that other recruits had already been prepared and pushed him to adopt the name Khalid Saifullah.
Digital evidence is now central to the inquiry. Mobile phones and other electronic devices seized during the operation are being examined for group chats, documents, videos, contacts and possible financial trails. Investigators say Faraz was connected through WhatsApp and Telegram groups with several people described in interrogation records as Pakistani, domestic and foreign “mujahideen”. They also allege that training videos associated with the Indian Mujahideen were circulated in the groups to motivate potential lone-wolf attackers.
The probe has also focused on a document described as the banned Popular Front of India’s “Mission 2047” material. Security agencies allege that members of the network were being urged to reject democratic governance, prepare for violent struggle and build support among youths through religious and political messaging. The Popular Front of India was banned in 2022 under the UAPA for five years, and material linked to its alleged long-term plan has surfaced in earlier investigations in Kerala and Maharashtra.
Officials allege that the group’s members were told to obtain passports and prepare to travel through third countries to Pakistan or Afghanistan for training if instructed. Faraz is also alleged to have been undergoing martial arts training. Investigators are examining whether this was part of a physical preparation plan or a personal activity later interpreted through the lens of the terror probe.
Faraz’s public life in Bhopal appeared ordinary to people living near him. He and his wife reportedly ran coaching classes for children from Classes 1 to 10 at their residence and held Quran lessons on Tuesdays. He also worked as a compounder at a local clinic. Neighbours described the family as low-profile, saying they were unaware of any alleged extremist activity.
The ATS is treating the Bhopal arrest as the entry point into a larger recruitment grid rather than an isolated case. The inquiry now spans contacts in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, with digital forensics expected to determine whether the accused were merely members of online groups or part of an active plan to identify targets, arrange travel, raise funds or create local cells.
