Arrest Made In Alleged Plot To Target BJP Leaders In Gujarat's Surat

On Friday, a 27-year-old man was apprehended in Gujarat's Surat amidst allegations of orchestrating a scheme to eliminate BJP leaders and a figure from a right-wing organization. According to Anupam Singh Gehlot, a senior police official in Surat, the accused, Maulvi Sohel Abubakr Timol, purportedly collaborated with contacts from Pakistan and Nepal to issue threats to the chief editor of a Hindi TV news channel, BJP's Telangana MLA Raja Singh, and the party's former spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

Timol, employed as a manager at a thread factory, also provided private Islamic tuition to Muslim children. Police had received intelligence suggesting that an individual was utilizing a WhatsApp group to disseminate content aimed at inciting religious discord and instigating communal violence during elections. This prompted an investigation.

Gehlot disclosed, "Timol's mobile communications unveiled a plot involving individuals from Pakistan and Nepal to offer a contract worth Rs 1 crore for the assassination and procure weapons from Pakistan to target their first victim, national president of Hindu Sanatan Sangh, Updesh Rana." Additionally, Gehlot highlighted that Timol was involved in planning to disrupt communal harmony during the ongoing general elections.

Initial findings revealed Timol's correspondence with individuals identified as Dogar and Shehnaz, whose phone numbers were traced to Pakistan and Nepal respectively. These individuals allegedly encouraged Timol by alleging insults to the Prophet and advocating corrective actions against Hindu organizations in India. In one instance, Timol threatened Rana with a fate akin to Kamlesh Tiwari's, who was assassinated in Lucknow in 2019.

The arrested suspect was in communication with holders of WhatsApp numbers from various countries, including Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Laos.