A multi-state terror network linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) was recently busted, with the initial lead stemming from JeM posters discovered in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. The investigation, which began in mid-October 2025, unveiled a "white-collar terror ecosystem" involving radicalized professionals and students in contact with foreign handlers.
The first clue emerged when JeM posters threatening attacks on security forces appeared in Nowgam, Srinagar. Srinagar SSP G V Sundeep Chakravarthy, who had previously led the J&K police component in Operation Mahadev, took interest in the posters, which were a rare occurrence since 2019. CCTV footage revealed three overground workers with a history of stone-pelting were responsible for putting up the posters. Their arrest and subsequent interrogation led the police to a cleric in Shopian, Maulvi Irfan Ahmad.
Questioning of Maulvi Irfan Ahmad over the next few weeks revealed a sinister JeM plot with links across J&K, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, leading to a string of arrests. Those arrested include Kashmiri doctors working at Faridabad's Al-Falah University, Muzammil Ganaie from Pulwama, Adeel Ahmad Rather from Qazigund (arrested in Saharanpur), and Dr. Shaheen Sayeed from Lucknow, who is reportedly Muzammil's girlfriend. Another doctor, Dr. Umar from Pulwama, is currently absconding. Also in custody are the three overground workers behind the Nowgam posters, a Mewat cleric named Hafiz Mohd Ishtiyak who arranged logistics in Faridabad, Maulvi Irfan, and Zameer Ahmad Ahanger alias Mutlasha from Ganderbal, who led police to Muzammil.
A mobile device seized from Maulvi Irfan's house revealed a Telegram channel operated by Pakistan-based JeM terrorist Umar bin Khattab, confirming Irfan's contact with him. The investigation revealed that the group used encrypted channels for indoctrination, coordination, fund movement, and logistics. Funds were raised through professional and academic networks under the guise of social and charitable causes. The accused were involved in identifying individuals for radicalization, recruiting them into militant ranks, raising funds, arranging logistics, and procuring arms, ammunition, and materials for preparing IEDs.
The operation has led to the recovery of a massive haul of over 2,900 kg of explosives, bomb-making material, and weapons. This included a Carom Cok assault rifle with three magazines and 83 live rounds, a pistol with eight live rounds, two additional magazines, and two empty cartridges. The 2,900 kg of IED-making material included explosives, chemicals, reagents, inflammable material, electronic circuits, batteries, wires, remote controls, timers, and metal sheets. The ammonium nitrate was packed in eight large and four small suitcases, along with 20 timers and 20 batteries, suggesting preparations for improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Investigators believe the doctors were part of a "white-collar terror module"—educated professionals providing cover and logistics for the JeM-Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) network. Senior officials consider this case a turning point in understanding the evolving nature of militant groups, emphasizing that it's no longer just about "gunmen in forests" but also about professionals using their social legitimacy to build and hide the infrastructure of terror. Police described the uncovering of the terror module as one of the most alarming infiltration attempts into civilian institutions in recent years.
