Sambhal: From SIMI to AQIS, why terror’s quiet hub got a watchdog

New Delhi, Sep 11 The Uttar Pradesh government announced the establishment of an Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) field unit in Sambhal. This is a very important and necessary move by the UP government, given the terror links that have cropped up in Sambhal.

The Indian Mujahideen and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) have used Sambhal as operational hubs. Today, it is a hot hub for Al-Qaeda in the Sub-Continent (AQIS), with some of its top leaders even hailing from this place.

In addition to the issue of terrorism, Sambhal is also communally sensitive. Sambhal saw a major security upgrade following the November 2024 unrest. The setting up of this new ATS will be a first in the Moradabad Zone. Until now, the ATS bases were limited to Meerut, Saharanpur, and Noida.

When the AQIS was set up in 2014, it proposed to focus its activities in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. However, over a period of time, the AQIS shifted its entire focus to India. When this plan was set in motion, it was decided that its major operating base would be in Sambhal. This idea was pitched by the head of operations of the AQIS, Asim Umar, who was a resident of Sambhal.

Since he was in Afghanistan, he hired another Sambhal resident, Mohammad Usman, to oversee the India module from Sambhal. Usman, who is wanted by the UP police, is currently lodged in a jail in Pakistan.

While the November 2024 unrest following a court-mandated survey of the Jama Masjid was treated as a communal incident, the Intelligence agencies picked up something more sinister. It appeared to be a well-orchestrated pattern that had anti-India links to it. The agencies say that any form of violence is an act of terror, and the AQIS could have had a hand in it, or at least used its reach on encrypted platforms to spread fake narratives.

When the AQIS decided to expand its operations in India, Sambhal was the natural choice. The place has a track record of being a comfortable operating base for both the Indian Mujahideen and SIMI. One of the first decisions that the chief of the AQIS, Arman al-Zawahiri, took was to appoint Asim Umar as the head of operations. The fact that he knew a lot about UP and Sambhal in particular was a major factor in him to be chosen.

Umar too felt that it would be best to have some from Sambhal to directly oversee operations, especially in UP and the rest of North India. Hence, he decided to appoint Usman, who hails from the same place.

In addition to terror groups, the Dawood Ibrahim syndicate also has a strong base in Sambhal. Dawood, who largely focuses on narcotics smuggling, is also part of the deep-rooted terror network set up by the ISI. He has been used several times in the past to set up terror modules with the help of his people. Dawood’s network in UP is a boon for the ISI as he can provide both men and money to help set up terror modules and also smuggle in arms and ammunition.

Umar left India in 1989 and, since then, has shuttled between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He has focused extensively on UP. He would address the youth in Sambhal and other parts of the state through video, and the question he asked frequently to radicalise them is, “Why isn’t there a storm in your ocean?” Another line that he would ask the potential recruits is, “Is there not one mother in Uttar Pradesh, who can sing a song to her son, urging him to become a mujahideen?”

Looking at the reach the AQIS and the D-Syndicate have in UP and the close links to Sambhal, it was the need of the hour to set up an ATS.

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