Ghaziabad: Police are scanning a social media account linked to Zeeshan — killed in a late-night encounter days after he was accused of a knife attack on YouTuber Saleem Wastik in his Loni office — hoping his videos would offer clues to what drove the assault.
Officials said the Instagram handle, ‘insprirewithzeeshan', contains dozens of posts in which Zeeshan presents himself as an Islamic speaker and comments on religion and current affairs, including references to the Babri Masjid, the Madina bus accident in which 45 Indian pilgrims were killed, and Palestine.
In a video uploaded on Dec 4, he says Babri Masjid is the "right" of every Muslim. In post from Nov 19, he says the 45 pilgrims killed in the Madina bus crash had achieved shahadat (martyrdom).
A senior officer said Zeeshan's mobile phone led them to his Instagram handle. Cops are also scanning his bank account to ascertain if he received foreign funds. "We have sought details of the account, including transactions," the officer said, adding they were trying to map his movements and contacts before the attack.
"We are still looking for a motive behind the attack," the officer added.
Police said the Instagram account was created on Sept 26, 2025, and the last video was uploaded on Feb 17, 10 days before the attack on Wastik.
Last Friday, Zeeshan and his brother Ghulfam arrived on a bike, parked outside Wastik's office in Loni and asked children nearby to move away. They then allegedly forced their way in, assaulted Wastik and stabbed him more than 10 times, including in the abdomen and near the throat, before fleeing as family members rushed in.
Wastik was taken to a private hospital, referred to GTB Hospital in Delhi, and later shifted to Max Hospital on Saturday. Police said his condition was still critical.
After the Friday attack, an FIR was registered on a complaint by Wastik's son against two unidentified assailants and five others under BNS sections 109(1) (attempt to murder) and 3(5) (common intention). Police said they were examining all possible motives, including personal enmity and ideological differences.
On Sunday night, Zeeshan was killed in an encounter in Loni, a day after chief minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a speedy arrest and an impartial probe.
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Avishek Kumar is a city reporter at the Times of India in Noida a...
Read MoreAvishek Kumar is a city reporter at the Times of India in Noida and Ghaziabad. He reports on crime, fire, and traffic with a particular focus on civic issues. Over the course of more than five years in journalism, he covered a broad spectrum of city beats, including courts and civics. He is committed to pursuing leads and producing hard-hitting, fact-based, field-exclusive reports.
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