Overview

• Authorities identified the accused as Akmal Raza (Sultanpur), Safeel Salmani alias Ali Razvi (Sonbhadra), Mohammad Tausif (Kanpur) and Qasim Ali (Rampur).
• Police allege the group aimed to overthrow the elected government through violent jihad and impose Sharia law while forming a militant outfit dubbed the “Mujahideen Army.”
• The ATS says the suspects used online and encrypted channels to radicalise recruits, share audio and video propaganda, and coordinate secret meetings.
• Officials report plans to procure arms and carry out targeted killings of non-Muslim religious leaders, with inputs also pointing to influence from Pakistan-based extremist organisations.
• A case has been registered at the ATS police station in Lucknow, five mobile phones and multiple IDs and payment instruments—including a PhonePe scanner—were seized, and further interrogation is under way.