LUCKNOW: In a major crackdown, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), on Monday evening, busted a gang comprising two individuals, allegedly engaged in hatching a conspiracy to incite communal disharmony and wage an ideological war against the state of India. As per the ATS sources, the arrests were part of a wider investigation into radical online networks linked to Pakistan.
The UP ATS, initially detained Ajmal Ali, 19, from Amroha in western UP on August 2 for questioning. Based on Ajmal’s grilling, his mentor, Usama Maj Sheikh, 24, was picked up from Thane on August 3. The ATS arrested both Ajmal and Usama officially on Monday.
The ATS sources claimed that sustained electronic surveillance and intelligence inputs led them to uncover a WhatsApp group named "Reviving Islam" with over 400 members, including three group administrators. The majority of the group members were reportedly based in Pakistan, while one mobile number linked to the group was traced to a UP resident.
The ATS sleuths identified that the number belonged to Ajmal Ali, son of Asgar Khan, of Dehra village under Naugawan Sadat police station in Amroha district. Ajmal was found to be actively promoting radical ideology against non-Muslim communities and was involved in propagating anti-India content across multiple social media platforms, said the ATS sources.
Ajmal was summoned to the ATS headquarters in Lucknow for questioning, during which he confessed that he was part of the "Reviving Islam" WhatsApp group. Ajmal also confessed to being in touch with several Pakistani nationals on other social media platforms. He revealed the identity of Thane’s Usama Maj Sheikh, whom he considered his mentor.
Usama was operating through an Instagram handle, said the ATS sources. ATS added that Usama, son of Maj Sheikh, residing near a Dargah in Badlapur village under Badlapur West police station in Thane district of Maharashtra, was allegedly in regular touch with Ajmal through Instagram and the encrypted messaging platform Signal.
"They used to exchange views on overthrowing the democratically elected government of India and replacing it with Sharia law through violent jihad," said an ATS source. Consequently, UP ATS registered an FIR arresting Ajmal and produced him before the court, which sent him to judicial custody.
Following further leads, the ATS tracked down Usama Maj Sheikh, arresting him on August 4, 2025, from his residence in Badlapur in Thane, Maharashtra. He was interrogated further regarding his role in the ideological indoctrination and recruitment of radical youth for extremist objectives, said the ATS sources.
As per the ATS sources, the preliminary inquiry revealed that the objective of both the persons was to incite communal hatred, provoke religious animosity, and prepare ground for a violent movement to establish Ghazwa-e-Hind—an Islamist concept of religious conquest—by spreading Sharia law through jihad. Both Ajmal and Usama were allegedly influencing Muslim youth against non-Muslims while pushing them to join anti-national activities aimed at destabilising the country, the ATS added.