Exclusive report published on India Today: Intelligence agencies in India are on high alert after a video surfaced in which terrorist Farhatullah Ghori is seen asking sleeper cells in India to carry out attacks on trains across the country. Sources have told India Today that Ghori, a fugitive jihadi living in Pakistan, had plotted the blast at Bengaluru’s Rameswaram cafe through sleeper cells in collaboration with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
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In the video, Ghori, who has been on the radar of Indian agencies for years, is seen calling upon sleeper cells to derail the railway network in India. He explains various methods of carrying out bomb blasts using pressure cookers.
Ghori also talks about plans to target petroleum pipelines and Hindu leaders in India. He says that the Indian government is weakening sleeper cells by targeting their properties through the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
In the video, Ghori can be heard saying, “But we will come back and shake the government.” According to sources in intelligence agencies, the video was released on Telegram about three weeks ago. At least 10 people were injured in the Rameswaram blast on March 1. The NIA, which took over the case on March 3, arrested two main accused Abdul Mathin Ahmed Taha and Musavir Hussain Shajib on April 12. Taha was the mastermind while Shajib allegedly planted the IED at the popular cafe. They were arrested from a lodge near Kolkata where they were staying under fake identities.
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Both are allegedly members of the Islamic State (IS) module based in Shivamogga, Karnataka. Shariq, a member of this module, carried out the Mangaluru blast in November 2022. Farhatullah Ghori and his son-in-law Shahid Faisal have a strong network of sleeper cells in South India. Faisal was in touch with both the accused in the Rameswaram cafe blast and was his handler in the case.
Who is Farhatullah Ghori?
Farhatullah Ghori, also known as Abu Sufiyan, Sardar Saheb and Faroo, has been linked to several high-profile attacks, including the 2002 Akshardham temple attack in Gujarat that killed over 30 people and injured 80 others. He was also behind the 2005 suicide attack on the task force office in Hyderabad.
After arresting three most-wanted terrorists from the national capital and Uttar Pradesh last year, the Delhi Police had said that Ghori was allegedly organising jihadi recruitment online. They revealed that Ghori was the handler of terrorists.
A few months ago, the Delhi Police had taken Ghori’s name on record after several terrorists from the Pune-ISIS module were arrested from across the country. Officials had claimed at the time that the ISI was running sleeper cells in India and recruiting youth to carry out attacks.
