Rajasthan ATS recovers hidden data from arrested cleric’s phone, points to major conspiracy

Jaipur, Nov 17 A major revelation has come out from the mobile phone of cleric Osama Umar, arrested from Rajasthan's Barmer district for alleged links with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and foreign funding.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has recovered over 3,00,000 hidden photos along with a significant amount of suspicious digital material.

According to IG Vikas Kumar, multiple ATS teams are examining the recovered photos, deleted data, and suspicious content extracted from Osama Umar’s mobile phone and social media accounts. Umar was arrested on November 6 after two days of intensive interrogation and has remained in ATS custody since.

He was produced in court on Saturday and subsequently sent to jail. Investigations into possible foreign funding are also underway.

Officials revealed that Umar had been in contact with radical organisations through social media. For the past four years, he had reportedly been consuming online propaganda material of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. On November 8, he was allegedly planning to fly to Afghanistan via Dubai to receive terror training.

The ATS detained him before he could leave the country.

Several chats and messages in Urdu and Persian have been recovered from his device and are currently under scrutiny.

Meanwhile, efforts are ongoing to de-radicalise four other individuals detained alongside him.

After the 2008 Jaipur serial blasts, several attempts by terror outfits to expand their network in Rajasthan have been foiled.

Following the recent arrests -- including Osama Umar and a doctor from Malpura, Tonk -- national intelligence agencies, ATS, and state surveillance units have been put on alert. Monitoring of suspects, especially on social media platforms, has been intensified.

IG ATS Vikas Kumar said that Umar was detained from Sanchore on November 4. After verification, he was arrested on November 6. During interrogation, investigators learned that he had planned to flee to Dubai on November 8 -- just two days after his arrest. From Dubai, he intended to travel to Afghanistan to undergo jihad training at a TTP base camp. It has also been revealed that after completing his training, he planned to return to India and activate a sleeper cell.

The FSL report of Umar’s mobile phone has now been released. Investigators found that he had been in contact with the terrorist organisation for nearly four years. Consequently, around four years’ worth of data has been recovered from the device, including over 3,00,000 photos related to extremist content. Most of the images contain messages in Urdu, Arabic, or Persian, which will be analysed by language experts.

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