Uttar Pradesh’s Anti-Terrorist Squad conducted searches across ten districts on October 3 in an investigation into alleged local links to Pakistan-based Shahzad Bhatti. Officials described an operation focused on contacts and possible assistance to the network.
The Times of India reported on October 3 that around 24 people were questioned. An official told the newspaper that 18 had been released with warnings, while investigators were still examining the devices of six others. These figures describe questioning, not 24 new arrests.
October 3 reports by Dynamite News and Newsroom Post also described checks on mobile phones, documents and online communications. Investigators were examining possible local support, funding and logistical connections; the reported searches extended through western Uttar Pradesh and areas near the Nepal border.
The inquiry seeks to establish each person’s role. Contact with someone under investigation does not by itself establish participation in a crime, and the reports did not announce a final finding against those questioned.