Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 30 (ANI): The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday arrested four terror suspects who were allegedly planning to form a 'Mujahideen Army' and 'replace' democracy with Sharia law, state police said.

'The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) received intelligence that some individuals in various districts of Uttar Pradesh, influenced by radical Pakistani organisations, were planning to overthrow the democratically elected government in India through violent jihad and impose Sharia law through the use of arms. To accomplish this goal, these individuals were meeting at various locations and participating in various social media groups. They were inciting people through audio chats and videos, and were collecting funds to procure weapons and other materials for carrying out terrorist acts. These groups also harboured serious plans for the near-term targeted killings of non-Muslim religious leaders,' according to a statement by Uttar Pradesh Police.

The ATS registered an FIR under Section 148/152 BNS at Police Station-ATS, Lucknow.

The arrested suspects are- Akmal Raza, resident of Sultanpur, Safeel Salmani alias Ali Razvi, resident of Robertsganj, Sonbhadra Mohd. Tausif, resident of Ghatampur in Kanpur and Qasim Ali, son of Babbu Shah, resident of Sarai Qadeem in Rampur.

The police statement added, 'The arrested accused told during the initial interrogation that they were planning to wage jihad against the infidels for the oppression and atrocities on Muslims and to implement Sharia law. For this, they were radicalising and uniting people with a similar mindset and due to their fanatic religious mindset, they were planning terrorist activities to eliminate many people by identifying them. For these tasks, they were collecting, writing and propagating many violent Jihadi literature and for this purpose, they were forming their own violent group for which they were making all efforts.'

The accused will be presented before the Court as per the rules, and further legal proceedings will be initiated. 'A request will be made to the Honorable Court for police custody remand of the accused to obtain detailed information about their other accomplices and helpers,' the UP Police said.

Further, as per the police statement, during the operation, authorities recovered five mobile phones, Aadhaar and PAN cards, ATM debit/credit cards, and a PhonePe scanner from the accused. (ANI)