Dehradun man arrested for running ‘lone wolf module of Pakistan-linked terror outfit'

DEHRADUN: The special task force (STF) of Uttarakhand police has arrested a 29-year-old garage worker for allegedly running a “lone wolf module of terror outfit ‘Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan (TTH)’ and sharing geotagged locations of military installations such as the Indian Military Academy with Pakistan-based handlers”. Incidentally, the arrest of accused Vikrant Kashyap comes days before PM Modi’s scheduled visit to Dehradun on April 14.SSP (STF) Ajai Singh said on Friday that police found sensitive information about vital installations shared by Kashyap with his Pakistani handlers including Karachi-based gangster Shahzad Bhatti and one of his close aides named Rana on his mobile phone. “An FIR was registered against him under BNS 152 (acts endangering sovereignty, integrity of India), section 3 (spying and acts prejudicial to interests of India) of the Official Secrets Act along with Arms Act,” Singh added.Nilesh Anand Bharne, IG (STF), said Kashyap, a resident of Dehradun’s Premnagar area “had come in contact with Bhatti over social media”. Bharne added: “Kashyap was under STF watch for about two months. After collecting enough evidence of his involvement in anti-national activities, the STF team arrested him from his house on Thursday night.”During interrogation, it was found that he was a fan of singer Sidhu Moosewala and wanted to avenge his murder. “Through social media, he came to know that Bhatti had said that ‘he will take revenge against the Lawrence Bishnoi gang (believed to be behind Moosewala’s murder)’. That perhaps drew him closer to Bhatti. He then came in contact via social media apps. They lured him by promising to facilitate his migration to Dubai.”As part of the initial tasks given to him, they had asked him to paint the ‘TTH’ initials on walls of Dehradun buildings to spread fear, Bharne further said. A 0.32 bore Italy-made pistol with seven live cartridges was recovered from him; he told cops that he had received it “from Bhatti’s aide in Delhi”.Meanwhile, DSP STF, RB Chamola, who led the operation, told TOI that, as per the inputs, “Kashyap was given the task to attack a senior Supreme Court lawyer and offices of some right-wing organisation in Delhi”. “Other security agencies are interrogating him as well,” Chamola said.Notably, the little-known terror outfit, ‘TTH’, had first come into news after they claimed responsibility for “killing two Punjab police officers” in Gurdaspur in Feb this year.