Dhanbad, May 3: The Jharkhand Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested Ammar Yashar, a former operative of the banned Indian Mujahideen (IM), for allegedly re-engaging in terrorist activities through his renewed association with Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT), officials said on Thursday.
Yashar, 33, was apprehended from Shamsher Nagar in Dhanbad and produced before a court before being remanded to judicial custody. The ATS said a mobile phone and banned documents were recovered from his possession at the time of arrest.
Yashar had previously been arrested by Jodhpur Police in 2014 for his links to IM and spent a decade in prison before being released on bail in May 2024. According to ATS officials, he re-established contact with HuT operatives following his release.
“After being released from prison in 2024, Yashar allegedly resumed involvement in terrorist activities. This time, he was reportedly engaged in anti-national activities through his association with Hizb ut-Tahrir,” said Director General of Police Anurag Gupta.
Information leading to Yashar’s arrest emerged during the interrogation of Aayan Javed, a suspected HuT member apprehended in a recent ATS operation. Officials said Javed’s statement resulted in the seizure of documents linking Yashar to the banned outfit.
The arrest comes in the wake of a larger counter-terror operation carried out by the Jharkhand ATS on April 26. Acting on intelligence inputs, the squad arrested four individuals in Dhanbad for alleged affiliations with HuT and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). The suspects were identified as Gulfam Hasan (21), Aayan Javed (21), Md Shahzad Alam (20), and Shabnam Parveen (20), Javed’s wife.
During the raids, authorities recovered two pistols, 12 rounds of ammunition, multiple mobile phones and laptops, and extremist literature linked to proscribed groups.
“On April 26, 2025, based on the facts uncovered from the said intelligence, multiple teams were formed to conduct searches and raids at suspected locations in Dhanbad district,” the ATS said in a statement.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, a radical Islamist group advocating the establishment of a global Islamic caliphate, was banned by the Indian government under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on October 10, 2024. According to officials, this marks the first criminal case registered in India following the nationwide ban. Further investigation is ongoing.
