UP police bust conspiracy to carry out ‘lone wolf attack’ on Kanwar Yatra, three held

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh police claimed to have busted a conspiracy to carry out a ‘lone wolf attack’ during the ongoing Kanwar Yatra in communally sensitive Muzaffarnagar district and arrested three people in this connection.

Police sources said that the three accused, identified as - Nadeem, Mansher and Rahees - had allegedly made a fake video, purportedly showing blood soaked bodies of women and children and claiming that the workers of a saffron outfit were killing Muslims in villages in Moradabad district, viral in WhatsApp groups.

It turned out that the video dated back to April 2024 and was of Muzaffargarh district in Pakistan, sources said.

A senior police official said in Muzaffarnagar that the police had received information that an inflammatory video showing blood soaked bodies of women and children had gone viral in a WhatsApp group.

During investigation it was found that the video in question contained an incident in Pakistan’s Muzaffargarh district where a man had murdered his wife and seven children in April last year.

After the probe, police nabbed Nadeem, Mansher and Rahees, who had allegedly made the video viral, on Monday. The accused worked as a vegetable vendor, junk dealer and utensils seller respectively.

‘’There was a pre-planned conspiracy to carry out terror attacks during the kanwar yatra and incite communal tension,’’ the official said.

‘’The accused confessed that their intention was to trigger communal tension and carry out a lone wolf attack,’’ he added.

The fake video was shared in several WhatsApp groups, sources said.

The police apprehended that the Pakistan spy agency ISI could be behind the conspiracy, and that the matter is being investigated.

Police appealed to the people not to share any unauthenticated video or message and have launched a ‘big fake news alert’ campaign in the district to create awareness among people.