On Wednesday (27th December), Mohammad Talha Mazhar – a student from the Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh – was detained by Saharanpur police for issuing threats to repeat a Pulwama-like terrorist attack. The police have formed a team to probe the case. The student is in the police custody and being interrogated. The X profile of the arrested accused shows multiple reshare of video posts involving videos of AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and other politicians from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Mohammad Talha Mazhar posted on his X handle, “Insha Allah, there will be another Pulwama soon.” It is notable that in the Pulwama terror attack that took place on 14th February 2019, more than 40 CRPF jawans were killed. The terrorist attack was carried out by Jaish-E-Mohammad.
Mohammad Talha Mazhar hails from Saraikela in Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur. He is a student at the Darul Uloom Madrasa in Deoband, in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. His profile is full of Hamas-sympathising posts and videos. He has also shared multiple posts involving videos of Asaduddin Owaisi’s speeches.
As soon as the Uttar Pradesh Police noticed his post, he was detained by the Saharanpur Police and the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the UP Police. The police and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) are interrogating the arrested youth regarding his social media post that issued threats of an attack similar to the Pulwama incident. A legal case has been filed against the Darul Uloom Deoband student for making a threatening statement online.
The ATS is probing if the youth is connected to any terrorist organisation in any way. Reports suggest that his hostel inmates are also being questioned. The mobile phone of the youth is also confiscated by the probing authorities.
Dr Vipin Tada – SSP of Saharanpur – said, “Deoband police received information that a youth has made an objectionable tweet. Given the seriousness of the matter, Deoband Police has registered a case and is interrogating the youth. A joint team with ATS is formed to probe this case. Based on the information we get in the primary interrogation, we will take further action.”
This is not the first time that Darul Uloom Deoband’s name has appeared in such controversy. Recently, the UP Police ATS cracked down against terrorist modules and arrested multiple accused terrorists. Many of them were directly connected to the Darul Uloom Deoband.