Prateek Tanmay
4 min readAhmedabadUpdated: Jul 17, 2026 03:49 PM IST
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Friday arrested five men allegedly linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), days after it had arrested eight others for their association with the terror outfit. The men—four from Patan and one from Banaskantha—are also accused of trying to carry out test explosions on at least eight occasions.
The police identified the accused as Patan residents Bilal Abid Shera, 24; Mohammad Ayyub Kadiwala, 22; Mohammad Ayyub Sunsara alias Mohammad Khali, 20; Mohammad Hasan Hanif Kardiya alias Hasan Haiderpuri, 20; and Banaskantha resident Shafi Raees Mukhi alias Shafi Chhapi, 21.
On July 2, the Gujarat ATS, based on information from Deputy Superintendent of Police Harsh Upadhyay, had registered a case against eight men at the ATS police station on charges related to terror financing, conspiracy, membership in a terrorist organisation, supporting a terror organisation, etc under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and conspiracy charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
During the investigation of this case, the Gujarat ATS constituted separate teams to identify and examine other active members allegedly involved in the anti-national conspiracy.
What led to the arrests of the 5 accused
The ATS said it allegedly recovered a JeM flag, a copy of books written by JeM founder Masood Azhar, a copy of a letter addressed to Azhar, and Rs 1.30 lakh in cash, suspected to be funds for use in terrorist activities, from the first group of accused.
A detailed interrogation of the accused allegedly revealed that some of them had been residing at Jamia Abul Hasan Madrasa, Khadiyasan, Patan, and since 2023 had been attempting to learn bomb-making and how to detonate improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The ATS said, “It was also revealed that accused Mohammad Amin Shera [arrested earlier] had also delivered jihad-related speeches and sermons. Between 2023 and February 2026, the accused had, on eight separate occasions at different places and times, studied and actively attempted various methods of carrying out explosions using different explosive timer mechanisms.”
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The ATS added, “It was also found that the accused had procured raw ingredients required for manufacturing gunpowder through online shopping platforms and local markets and had studied different methods of carrying out bomb blasts. During the course of the investigation, materials used for the preparation of an IED were recovered from Mohammad Amin Shera for examination.”
The ATS alleged that Bilal Abid Shera had provided a pen drive to Mohammad Amin Shera. “It contained jihadi speeches, videos, and jihadi books of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Masood Azhar, which were subsequently printed from various locations,” the ATS said.
Accused Mohammad Ayyub Kadiwala allegedly revealed that he, along with Mohammad Amin Shera, Ahmad Ghaziwala, Zakariya Ghagha, and the other above-mentioned accused, had assembled at a mosque and learned to assemble an IED and carry out an IED blast. The accused allegedly also obtained photocopies of a book on jihad and invited other madrasa students to join the cause.
“As the investigation revealed that all five accused had been actively participating in the conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts, they were arrested on July 15 in connection with the case,” the ATS said in a statement. The accused were sent to eight days’ police remand.
