JeM Terror Recruitment Module Busted In Jammu And Kashmir; 10 Detained | India News
A terror recruitment and financing module operated by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander Abdullah Ghazi, alias Shaukat Ali, from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, has been busted. Ten individuals have been detained for questioning.
The Counter-Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) traced suspicious technical signatures through a specific encrypted messaging application widely used by terrorists and their handlers for coordinating, financing, and executing terror activities during today’s raids. The investigation revealed that Ghazi was in continuous contact with local Kashmiri youth, attempting to radicalise them for recruitment into JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Raids were conducted at 10 locations with a focus on disrupting a terrorist sleeper cell and recruitment module. Sleeper cells consist of individuals who blend into society, often without the knowledge of family or friends and engage in covert activities such as target killings, grenade attacks, or distributing terrorist propaganda.
During the raids, several documents and digital devices, including mobile phones, were seized, providing critical evidence to unravel the terror network. Ten suspects were detained for allegedly using encrypted apps to coordinate with handlers across the border.
The operation highlighted a shift in terror strategy toward “Cyber Jihad,” where Pakistan-based operatives use encrypted apps, proxy numbers (including Indian ones), and virtual identities to radicalize youth. The process involves identifying vulnerable individuals on public platforms, then shifting to encrypted apps for mission assignments such as surveillance, arms transport, target selection and luring them with promises of financial rewards and religious justification.
This is the fifth major digital terror module dismantled by CIK, following similar operations against Pakistan-based terrorist handlers. With declining local recruitment, Pakistan-based terror groups like JeM and LeT have increasingly relied on digital platforms for radicalising and recruiting Kashmiri youth into terror organisations.
