ATS once again takes custody of Pune software engineer held for terror links

Pune, Dec 25 (PTI) The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has taken fresh custody of arrested software engineer Zubair Hangargekar, telling the court that it was investigating IP addresses from Afghanistan and Hong Kong found in his Telegram account.

On Wednesday, the ATS for the second time took the custody of Hangargekar, arrested in October for alleged links with banned outfits such as Al Qaeda and `Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent' as well as suspected involvement in radicalisation activities.

The special court for Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) here remanded him in ATS custody till January 3.

The seized electronic devices of Hangargekar and his associates revealed that they were using the ideology of terrorist organisations such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda with the objective of establishing a Khilafat state and implementing Sharia law in India, the ATS told the court while seeking his custody.

They gathered Muslim youths for `dars' (religious instruction), initially providing information on religious thoughts to bring about a change in mindset and gradually steering them towards increased religiosity. Thereafter, under the pretext of `ijtima' (Islamic congregations), they brought them together at Padgah in Thane, where they further radicalised them towards religious extremism and also conducted training sessions to assess their mental and physical capabilities, the ATS claimed.

The investigators came across 108 IDs in Hangargekar's Telegram account, it said. "So far, the ATS has obtained information about eight IDs, and four of them are from Afghanistan and Hong Kong and it needs to be probed," said the remand application.

Under the UAPA, an accused in a terror case can be remanded in police custody for a maximum of 30 days.

Hangargekar (37) was arrested on October 27, and remanded in ATS custody for 18 days after which he was sent in judicial custody.

The ATS had told the court then that it might seek his custody again, said a senior police official.

The ATS had earlier said that it had found a Pakistani contact number in Hangargekar's old phone.

During the analysis of the contact list of the phone, five international numbers were found -- one from Pakistan, two from Saudi Arabia, and one each from Kuwait and Oman. The call detail records, however, did not show any calls to these numbers, the ATS said.

Hangargekar was questioned about these numbers, including the one from Pakistan, but he did not furnish any information, it stated.

The ATS had earlier told a Pune court that Hangargekar used to deliver religious discourses "aggressively" in the city's Kondhwa area.

During a house search there, the ATS seized mobile phones containing deleted PDF files titled 'Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and All Its Manifestations', it had said.

It also recovered an Urdu translation of a speech delivered by Osama bin Laden on Eid-ul-Fitr.

In addition, a magazine titled 'Inspire' was found, containing photographs of AK-47 training at the `OSG Gun School' and documents detailing the procedure to make an IED using acetone peroxide from an `OSG Bomb School', it told the court. PTI SPK NP KRK