Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorist Squad has arrested eight suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed operatives from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh over an alleged effort to build an active terror network in the state, widening a counter-terror probe that investigators say had been under way for months.
The arrests were made on Thursday during coordinated raids across Banaskantha, Mehsana, Patan and Navsari districts of Gujarat, and Dewas in Madhya Pradesh. Seven of the accused were picked up from Gujarat and one from Dewas. The case was registered at the ATS Police Station under provisions of the Unlawful Activities Act, 1967, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
The accused have been booked under UAPA Sections 13, 17, 18, 38 and 39, covering unlawful activities, terror funding, conspiracy, membership of a terrorist organisation and support to a terrorist organisation. Sections 61 and 148 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita have also been invoked, bringing criminal conspiracy and alleged conspiracy linked to offences against the state into the case.
Officials identified the arrested men as Ahmed Abdullah Gajiwala, 19; Ibrahim Mohammad Husen Ghagha, 30; and Mudassir Abdullah Ghaziwala, 22, all from Palanpur in Banaskantha; Zakariya Durani Mohammad Ammar Ghagha, 21; Mufti Faujan Ismail Dauwa, 40; and Mohammad Amin Shera, 21, all associated with Siddhpur in Patan; Mohammad Abdul Rahman Savdi, 22, of Chikhli in Navsari; and Bilal Durani Mohammad Ammar Ghagha, 18, of Dewas in Madhya Pradesh.
The accused were produced before a court in Kadi town of Mehsana district and remanded to ATS custody for 14 days. Investigators are now examining the group’s digital trail, funding channels, local contacts and alleged links with handlers outside the country.
The ATS has alleged that the group had formed a JeM-linked outfit called Darul Islam Gujarat Jaish-e-Mohammed and was trying to draw more people into the network. The accused were allegedly in contact with two Pakistan-based handlers identified as Abdullah and Mohammad Umar, and were working to expand JeM’s activities in Gujarat.
The state shares both land and maritime proximity with Pakistan, a factor that has long shaped security assessments in western border states. Investigators are treating the alleged local recruitment effort as significant because it points to a shift from isolated online radicalisation to attempts at building a structured support network on the ground.
The operation began after two suspects, Ahmed and Ibrahim, were detained near the Mehsana-Banaskantha highway. Their questioning led investigators to other suspects already under watch, prompting raids by five ATS teams with assistance from district police units and Dewas police.
Investigators claim the group had received about Rs 3 lakh in funding from JeM. A portion of that money was allegedly used to buy a second-hand car that had not been transferred to any member’s name. The vehicle is now being examined for possible use in logistics, movement of accused persons or other operational purposes.
A large cache of alleged extremist material was seized during the raids. It included books, speeches, audio recordings, videos, photographs, JeM flags and literature linked to the outfit’s founder Masood Azhar. A Gujarati translation of Dars-e-Jihad, a book attributed to Azhar, was also seized. Investigators believe the translation was prepared to circulate JeM ideology among Gujarati-speaking audiences.
Eight typed Urdu letters addressed to Azhar were also recovered. These letters allegedly expressed the accused persons’ intention to join the banned organisation. Photographs of handwritten Urdu pages and other digital files were found during forensic examination of mobile devices and storage applications.
The ATS is also looking into whether religious and educational premises named in the probe were used without broader institutional knowledge or whether specific individuals attempted to exploit those spaces for recruitment and communication. This line of inquiry is sensitive because investigators must establish individual culpability without casting suspicion on wider communities or institutions.
Jaish-e-Mohammed remains a banned organisation under the UAPA. The group has been linked to major terror attacks and has figured repeatedly in counter-terror investigations across the country. Security agencies have intensified surveillance of encrypted communication channels, social media accounts and small funding transfers linked to proscribed groups, particularly where alleged handlers abroad try to influence vulnerable recruits.
