Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested 18-year-old Jasim Shahnawaz Ansari for his suspected involvement in cyber terrorism activities.
According to ATS officials, Ansari and a group of juveniles ramped up activities of cyberattacks before and after India’s Operation Sindoor, which targeted several terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the deadly Pahalgam attack.
Between April and May, the youngsters allegedly carried out cyberattacks on over 50 Indian government websites, targeting defenxe, finance, aviation, urban development sectors, besides several state departments.
During surveillance by Gujarat ATS, authorities gathered intel which helped them find out that Ansari and his associates operated a Telegram group called ‘AnonSec’ where they planned and executed DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks designed to crash websites by flooding them with traffic.
Ansari, who was nabbed from Nadiad, reportedly learnt Python programming through YouTube and downloaded hacking tools from GitHub. The tools were used via mobile apps like Termux and Pydroid to carry out the attacks.
Their success was verified through platforms like checkhost.net before screenshots were shared in the AnonSec group, often accompanied by anti-India messages such as ‘Hi, India, we just took down your shield and servers.’
To guard against getting caught, the group changed its name frequently. On May 7, hours after Operation Sindoor, the group carried out a well-planned attack targeting 20 Indian government websites. The cyber attackers posted statements like “India may have started it, but we will be the ones to finish it.”
ATS authorities, who disclosed that Ansari recently failed his Class XII exams, are probing whether the suspects were operating independently or influenced by foreign elements.
Gujarat ATS, which is examining digital tools, software and online footprints of Ansari and his associates, has filed an FIR under Sections 43 and 66F of the Information Technology Act, pertaining to cyber terrorism.
