'Why No Jihad in Delhi...': Posts spouting Al-Qaeda's ideology led to arrest of 5 by Gujarat ATS

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) over the past week arrested five youths, including a woman from Bengaluru, for allegedly propagating the ideology of the banned terror outfit Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

The arrests are primarily based on eight Instagram posts which, according to ATS, incite Muslims to join Jihad for Ghazwa-e-Hind (holy raid of India)," challenge Indian sovereignty, and spread hatred against Hindus.

The 11-page FIR, accessed by DH, has listed eight specific messages the suspects posted on Instagram accounts to spread their radical beliefs. These messages propagate extremist ideas such as urging followers to prioritize Islamic law over democracy.

Some posts call for violence against non-believers, particularly targeting Hindus.

One of the messages cited Maulana Asim Umar, the slain Ameer (chief) of AQIS, quoting him as saying, “Why is there no storm in your river?.”

According to officials, the Instagram accounts of the accused, except Shama Parveen who was arrested from Bengaluru on Tuesday, had minimal follower bases.

Parveen's account, strangers_nation02, has over 13,000 followers, the highest. ATS has mentioned in the FIR that the suspects didn't keep their accounts private but "were intentionally kept open" as public accounts."

While the account, sharyat_ya_shahadat, allegedly run by one of the suspects Mohammed Faiq, arrested from Delhi, has 402 followers as on Thursday. FIR lists eight messages, based on which the case was registered, posted from Faiq's accounts.

Despite the limited reach, investigators believe, the messages were capable of inciting or spreading extremist ideology.

"Upon reviewing other social media applications and the mobile phone’s gallery, a video dated 27-06-2025 was discovered, depicting Mohammad Fardin (one of the accused) waving an unsheathed sword in the air. The overlaid text in the video read: “Ek iski hi kami thi, woh bhi poori ho gayi. Allah-hu-Akbar.”

FIR mentions that all the suspects were in touch with each other on social media. "While going through their Instagram accounts and their social media activities, it was found that these users were posting, collaborating with each other for Instagram posts as well as liking and commenting on posts which had content associated with the proscribed terror organisations, radicalizing their followers to wage jihad & Ghazwa-e-Hind, to incite the Muslim population of India to commit violence & terror attacks against Kafirs & Hindus and causing disaffection against India by promoting armed rebellion against government elected democratically through popular vote and establish Islamic Shariat abiding government or Khilafat," the FIR states.

During the investigation, police also found a group called "Khilafat Ko Qayyam Karo (establish the Caliphate)," which had 73 members who were also conversing about alleged extremist ideas. One of the eight messages listed in the FIR was released a day after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 23.

The FIR mentions, "The video contains a voice speaking in a mix of Hindi & Urdu language in background showing google search result. In the video, entity is heard saying “As per Google, there are 14 lakh personnel in Indian Army and there are 189 million Muslims in India…”.

The video then shows an image of calculator screen in which 18.9 million is divided by 1.4 million. The entity is heard saying “…when 18 crore 19 lakh Muslims is divided by 14 lakh personnel, it is a fact that there would be 135 person per 1 personnel”. The said video was posted on the next day of Pahalgam terrorist attack and is inciting Muslim population of India to stand up against the Indian Army."

Another post reads, "Our youth, instead of begging to this secular system, should put weapons across the necks of these disbelievers. When these weapons will reach their neck, then these lowly and cowardly community which is attacking us today, will beg for their lives..."

"Why are there no more warriors present in current times who can raise the banner of Jihad against the enemies? Why have there been no jihad or no jihadi battlefield created in lands of Delhi, UP, Bihar, Bengal & South India? Why temple of Somnath is not trembling any more from the voice of takbeer?..." reads another one.