Argus News - Terror Suspect Nabbed in Bhubaneswar with Pakistan Links

Bhubaneswar, Apr 11: Bhubaneswar police, in coordination with Delhi Special Branch, arrested a young man from Unit-6 area late at night on charges of sedition and suspected links with Pakistan-based organizations.

The suspect, who had been living in a rented house in the locality for several months, allegedly used social media platforms to spread provocative slogans and anti-national content.

Investigators revealed that he was receiving funds from undisclosed sources, raising suspicions of deeper connections with foreign terror outfits.

Following his arrest, the suspect was produced before the SDJM Court in Bhubaneswar, where Delhi police sought transit remand to take him to the capital for further interrogation.
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Authorities are probing the extent of his involvement and the purpose behind his alleged association with Pakistan-linked groups.

What Police Said (through a release)?

About a week ago, Delhi Police’s Special Cell detained several youths from Delhi for posting radical content on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Signal.

During interrogation and analysis of their social media activity, investigators discovered a link to Odisha. Acting on this lead, on April 10, with assistance from Commissionerate Police (BBSR UPD), a man named Sheikh Imran was arrested from Unit-6 area of Bhubaneswar.

Further questioning revealed that 22-year-old Sheikh Imran (aka SK Imran) — son of Sheikh Amir and resident of Unit-6, Ganga Nagar in Bhubaneswar —, an unemployed youth, was an active member of a radical group. Through his social media accounts, he maintained close contact with groups on WhatsApp and Signal where extremist religious content was circulated, posing a threat to national security.

Sheikh Imran was produced before the SDJM Court in Bhubaneswar, after which Delhi Police took him on transit remand for further investigation in the capital.
Series of Terror-Related Cases

This incident adds to a series of terror-related cases in Odisha over the past decade.

In 2015, Abdul Rehman was arrested from Jagatpur, Cuttack, for alleged links with Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). He was accused of running a madrasa and indoctrinating youth with extremist ideologies.

Similarly, in 2016, five SIMI (Students’ Islamic Movement of India) operatives were captured in Rourkela after escaping from Khandwa jail in Madhya Pradesh. They had been living under false identities and were involved in bank robberies and bombings.

Odisha has also witnessed espionage cases. In 2015, Ishwar Chandra Behera, a contractual employee at Chandipur’s missile testing centre (ITR), was arrested for leaking sensitive information to Pakistan’s ISI. A similar honeytrap-linked espionage case surfaced in 2021, leading to multiple arrests.

The Indian Mujahideen’s co-founder Yasin Bhatkal, during interrogation in 2014, revealed that Bhubaneswar had been surveyed by terrorists, with crowded areas and religious sites marked as potential targets.

More recently, UP Police’s STF suspected that Guddu Muslim, accused in the 2023 Umesh Pal murder case, had taken shelter in Puri and Bargarh districts while evading arrest.

Security agencies are intensifying surveillance and coordination to prevent the state from becoming a safe haven for extremists.