ATS Questions 13 Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar youths over links to Pakistani gangster Shahzad Bhatti

60 youths questioned across Maharashtra

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Investigation agencies have targeted youths across the state who attempted to contact Pakistani gangster Shahzad Bhatti.

Agencies strongly suspect that around 13 youths from the Old City and Waluj industrial area came in contact with Bhatti's gang. The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) questioned these youths for over seven hours on Wednesday. Agencies are now investigating their social media accounts and whether any financial transactions took place.

Shahzad Bhatti, a resident of Lahore, Pakistan, came on the radar of Indian investigation agencies two years ago. Through social media, he has been trying to build an anti-India network by connecting with unemployed and radicalised youth in India. He is suspected to be operating his network from Pakistan, Dubai, and certain locations in the Middle East. He lures youth into his network through offers of money, social media following, and radical ideology. Over the past few months, central investigation agencies have launched a mission to dismantle his network within the country. As part of this, ATS on Wednesday questioned nearly 60 youths across the state suspected to be in contact with Bhatti.

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Those who followed him on social media got caught...

Central intelligence agencies identified the 13 city youths from Waluj, Mill Corner, Begumpura, and Bhoiwada after tracking their contact with Bhatti and his relatives, and passed the leads to ATS. Wednesday's operation was part of a wider statewide crackdown in which nearly 60 youths were questioned across Maharashtra.