India: 19-year-old Muslim used WhatsApp to recruit people for jihad, discuss bomb-making

Here we have an activity to which Western law enforcement officials frequently refer, but which seldom, if ever, gets examined in detail: “radicalization on the internet.” We are routinely told that various jihad terrorists were radicalized on the Internet — so often, in fact, that it raises suspicions that officials throw out this phrase so as to avoid doing so “Islamophobic” as to investigate the local mosque. In this case here again, Nabeel was working on WhatsApp, but he didn’t live online. He had a mosque he attended. What does that mosque teach? Did anything happen there that made Nabeel want to start recruiting for jihad? Will anyone look into this, or would that be “Islamophobic”?

“Al Qaeda active in UP? ATS crackdown, youth arrested for recruiting ‘mujahideen,'” by Varsha Agarwal, DNA India, September 13, 2026:

Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested a 19-year-old Azamgarh man for allegedly using WhatsApp and encrypted platforms to radicalise and recruit young people to become ‘mujahideen’. A case has been registered under Sections 152 and 61(2) of the BNS and Sections 18 and 38 of the UAPA. According to investigators, the accused, identified as Mohammad Nabeel, a resident of Azamgarh’s Didarganj area, was promoting the ideology of banned terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki. The probe claimed to have found extremist material, coded conversations and discussions related to weapons and explosives. It has also been alleged that the funds were raised to carry out activities in the name of jihad.

How did he allegedly operate?

According to the ATS, Nabeel allegedly created and operated a WhatsApp group called “La Ghalib Illallah” to radicalise young people and recruit them. The accused had reportedly shared books written by Al-Qaeda ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki and former AQIS chief and terrorist Maulana Asim Umar. He would allegedly refer to the members of the group as ‘mujahideen’ and use code words such as “trip,” “pen,” “juice” and “project” to refer to jihad, knives, chemicals and plans respectively. The investigation claimed to have found alleged discussions about bomb-making, related videos and procuring potassium nitrate.
Police said the group included young people from Jammu and Kashmir, as well as foreign nationals. Another WhatsApp group, “Flames of War,” allegedly included members from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Saudi Arabia. Further, the intelligence inputs also allegedly indicated discussions about launching “Ghazwa-e-Hind” in coordination with Pakistan….