AK-47 logged as toy, grenade as perfume bottle; SHO suspended, CO removed

BIJNOR: A station house officer was suspended and a circle officer was removed in Bijnor after the UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) flagged serious lapses in a 2025 police probe in which what appeared to be an AK-47 was recorded as a “toy gun” and a grenade as a perfume bottle. The action followed fresh scrutiny of the case after ATS linked a Meerut man now in Dubai to terror suspects arrested in Lucknow.The case began in Nov 2025 after a purported video showing Aqib Khan of Meerut, currently in Dubai, displaying what looked like an assault rifle and a grenade during an Instagram call with Majul, a resident of Sauftapur village in Nangalsoti police station area who has been working as a salon worker in South Africa for the past three years. Despite the visuals, police relied on a video statement in which Aqib said, “The rifle is a toy gun and the grenade is a perfume bottle,” and accepted that explanation while clearing all accused.The matter resurfaced after UP ATS arrested four terror suspects in Lucknow, and one of them allegedly revealed links to Aqib, exposing the earlier oversight by Bijnor police. Following the ATS input, a departmental inquiry was ordered, and SP Abhishek Jha took action against the officers linked to the earlier investigation.Police said sub-inspector Vinod Kumar had registered an FIR on Nov 23, 2025, against Majul, Aqib Khan, a resident of Sathla in Mawana area of Meerut, and an unidentified person after the video surfaced. During the investigation, then SHO Satyendra Malik contacted Majul and later spoke to Aqib through a video call, after which Aqib again claimed, “I am innocent. The weapon shown is not real and the grenade is only a perfume bottle.” Police accepted that version and filed a final report, giving both Aqib and Majul a clean chit.The case took a serious turn after UP ATS arrested four suspected terrorists, including Meerut resident Saquib alias Devil, in Lucknow. During interrogation, Saquib allegedly said he was connected to Aqib in Dubai, a disclosure that led investigators back to the earlier Bijnor case and raised questions about how police failed to detect any possible terror link at that stage.According to ATS, the four arrested men were Saquib alias Devil and Arbab, both residents of Meerut, and Vikas Gehlawat and Lokesh, residents of Gautam Buddh Nagar. Investigators alleged they reached the Lucknow railway station as part of a bomb blast conspiracy, and said Saquib’s links led them to Aqib, who was allegedly in contact with Majul through Instagram and Telegram and had connected Saquib to Pakistani handlers through those platforms.Officials said the fresh ATS findings prompted a review of the earlier investigation and exposed serious negligence in documentation and verification. “A departmental inquiry has been ordered into the lapse,” an officer said, adding that agencies were continuing to investigate the wider network and Aqib’s role from Dubai.