New Delhi, July 14 (IANS) The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has launched a major operation in connection with alleged links to Pakistani gangster Shahzad Bhatti, with raids underway in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Multiple ATS teams are conducting simultaneous operations across different cities in Maharashtra and have taken some suspected individuals into custody for questioning.

According to the Maharashtra ATS, Shahzad Bhatti, along with his associates, was allegedly using social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and WhatsApp to reach out to young people.

The ATS is carrying out the operation to investigate individuals allegedly connected with Shahzad Bhatti’s network.

A Maharashtra ATS official said that the teams are conducting the searches and questioning suspected persons as part of the ongoing action.

The operation is currently underway, and further details are awaited from the Maharashtra ATS.

Bhatti has emerged as the Inter-Services Intelligence’s latest operative tasked with carrying out a large-scale recruitment drive in India aimed at fuelling terrorism.

Intelligence inputs indicate that he has been running this recruitment network in India for several months.

Bhatti follows a shifting recruitment strategy to evade scrutiny. He focusses on one state at a time and, as soon as security agencies begin closing in on his network, shifts operations elsewhere. A few months ago, his recruitment drive was centred in Uttar Pradesh. After Intelligence agencies picked up the trail, he moved his operations to Maharashtra.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that Bhatti’s network, which is backed by ISI, has a distinct way of functioning. “They are not indulging in pan-India recruitments. They are targeting youth from one state at a time, and this helps them evade the security agencies,” the official said.

–IANS

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