LUCKNOW: The anti-terror squad (ATS) of UP Police probing the Gorakhnath Temple attack case on Thursday said the arrested accused Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi used to radicalise individuals through social media and had also recced religious towns in the state. The ATS made the claims based on his initial interrogation at its Lucknow headquarters on Thursday.
The agency said the accused had made a WhatsApp group where he would interact with youths and radicalise them. He would also give them tasks like conducting recce of temples and religious places like Ayodhya, Mathura, Gorakhpur, Varanasi.
Some of those in the group have also been rounded up from different districts of UP, including Saharanpur, Noida, Kanpur and Gorakhpur. Satellite maps of several religious temple cities, including Gorakhpur and Varanasi along with details of his visits have also been recovered from the laptop, ATS sources said. The ATS officials said that reports of his psychological tests were awaited.
Official privy to the probe said that Murtaza was highly radicalised and had a number of films and videos showing how to wage ‘jihad’ against a country.
