A 29-year-old man was arrested from Uttarakhand’s Premnagar district for allegedly being involved in anti-national and terrorism-related activities, with police claiming that he was in touch with Pakistan-based handlers who tasked him with sharing photos of key locations and planning attacks in Dehradun.
The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF), in a joint operation with Dehradun Police under ‘Operation Prahar’, arrested Vikrant Kashyap, a resident of Ghagra in Premnagar, on the intervening night of April 9-10. Troops confiscated an illegal .32 caliber pistol, seven live cartridges, and a can of spray paint from his possession.
Kashyap, who has resided in Nabha in Punjab for the past two years, was engaged in manufacturing truck bodies.
According to Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Singh, he was allegedly in touch with Pakistan-based terrorist and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agent Shehzad Bhatti and his accomplice Rana through social media platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp.
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“Preliminary information indicates that Pakistani handlers were trying to recruit Indian youth as sleeper cells through social media. Based on technical surveillance and human intelligence, the accused was identified and kept under surveillance,” Singh said.
Police said Kashyap was tasked with sending videos and photographs of key locations in Dehradun to Pakistan. These sites included the ISBT, Police Headquarters and other important government buildings. He was lured with promises of good amount of money and settling in Dubai via Nepal.
“During interrogation, Kashyap revealed that he approached Bhatti after following his social media posts related to Punjabi singer Sidhu Musiwala because he wanted to avenge the singer’s death, being his fan. He later started receiving instructions to do reconnaissance of important locations in Dehradun. He was also told that he had to blow up these places using bombs, and that a person called Gurjar would supply him with explosives, weapons and money,” the statement said. He said.
Investigators said Kashyap was instructed to spray the words “Taliban Hindustan” on public places to create an atmosphere of fear. “He carried out such acts at multiple locations, including near Selakwi, Advani Bridge and Jhajra, and shared videos with dealers in Pakistan,” he added.
The location and video footage of Gagra police station was recorded and sent to Pakistan, the SSP said. He added: “In addition, Pakistani officials assigned him the task of throwing a grenade at members of an organization in Delhi and at a Supreme Court lawyer.”
Police said several important pieces of information have emerged from the recovered mobile phone and further legal action is being taken in coordination with various agencies.
The SSP said that a case has been registered at Premnagar police station under the relevant departments.
