Mumbai Police Receives 26/11 Like Threats On Whatsapp
The city of Mumbai is on high alert after the local police has received a threat of another 26/11-like terror attack in the city.
On 18th August 2022, the Mumbai Police found an unidentified boat with three AK-47 rifles and bullets at Harihareshwar Beach in Raigad district, which is 190 km away from Mumbai. You may remember that during the 26/11 attacks, terrorists entered Mumbai via a small boat. This is why after the guns were found at the beach, Mumbai was put on high alert. However, later it was found that the boat belonged to an Australian person and drifted close to the beach due to bad weather.
Days after this, according to officials, the Mumbai Traffic Police received a message on its WhatsApp number (8454999999) from a mobile number with Pakistan’s code (+92) threatening a 26/11-like attack. The sender also shared the names and numbers of seven purported handlers from India, who are allegedly helping in the operation. Soon after the messages were received, an alert was sounded, and all the state and national agencies, including the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) and National Investigation Agency (NIA).
According to the chats which were sent in Hindi, the person said that they are planning to blow up the entire city and it will be more dangerous than 26/11. One of the alleged handler’s number belonged to an official from the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorism Squad. The official told Mumbai Police that he has no clue how and why his number was mentioned in the threat messages. When a mid-day reporter called up the phone number displayed on WhatsApp, a person who identified himself as Mohammed Imtiaz answered the call. He said he lives in Shahdara, Lahore in Pakistan. He also claimed he didn’t have WhatsApp on his mobile phone. He said, ‘“I don’t know how to type messages and also don’t know about threat messages. Friends told me that WhatsApp has been activated on my number. I have no idea who did it; somebody is playing mischief with me.”
The police have also said that they are questioning a person, Mohammad Asif, from Virar, whose number was shared on the message. Asif is around 25 years old and hails from Uttar Pradesh. He recently came to. Mumbai in search of a job and has been staying with his relatives. “He claimed that he is a barber by profession, and has no idea how his number was shared. Further investigations are on.” On Saturday, Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar addressed a press conference, where he said that three teams of the Crime Branch would be probing the matter. Phansalkar also asked citizens not to panic. Since many festivals are coming, the police have tightened security in Mumbai. Commenting on the matter, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “We have taken the case of the threat message very seriously."
