Maharashtra ATS busts soccer club front for radicalisation

NAGPUR: Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) Sunday raided 21 locations across multiple districts and busted an alleged radicalisation network operating under the garb of a soccer club. At the centre was a Nagpur-based grocer who allegedly used a club in Yavatmal's Pusad as a front to indoctrinate youth into 'jihadi' ideology.

Preliminary findings indicated many suspects - projected as footballers - maintained contact with cross-border radical Islamic terror outfits. Intelligence sources said they were involved in online discussions promoting anti-India sentiments and pro-jihadi views. The grocer allegedly sent them, disguised as a football team, to radicalisation workshops in Kerala and West Bengal. Expensive flight tickets point to a well-organised, financially backed network aimed at grooming vulnerable youths through targeted meetings. "This highlights a trend of exploiting recreational platforms to propagate extremist ideology," an official said.

A Pusad native, the alleged mastermind had relocated to Jaffar Nagar. Police said his family's decades-old ties with radical Islamist outfits had put them on intelligence radar. He was detained and questioned, later released but remains under the scanner.

During searches in Pusad and Ahilyanagar, ATS detained several suspects and seized phones, laptops and electronic devices. Data has been sent for forensic analysis to recover deleted content and trace communications. Investigators are mapping funding sources and wider links. "It's a stark warning about hidden radicalisation efforts," an official said.

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