A day after the arrest of Saharanpur native Mohammad Sohail from Karnataka over suspected links with Pakistan-based handlers, security agencies in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday began a parallel probe into his local contacts as police called his father for questioning and the UP ATS stepped in to gather field inputs from the family’s home district, said senior police officials here.
Sohail, 20, a native of Lakhnauti village in Saharanpur’s Gangoh area, was picked up from Davangere district of Karnataka where he had gone for a painting work. His arrest triggered a terror probe in Karnataka after investigators found alleged suspicious material and foreign contacts on his mobile phone.
Police sources in Saharanpur said Sohail’s father Liyaqat was called to Gangoh police station on Thursday and questioned about his son’s recent movements, stay in Karnataka, phone usage and the people he had remained in touch with before leaving Uttar Pradesh. Officials said the UP ATS unit in Deoband has also started collecting information about Sohail and is expected to assist central agencies in mapping his local network and communication trail.
According to locals, Sohail had left for Karnataka only seven to eight days ago while some reports from Karnataka have said he had reached the state around two weeks earlier for working as a painter. Investigators are now trying to reconcile his travel timeline and establish whom he was in touch with before and after leaving Saharanpur.
Family members have told police that Sohail had once mentioned that a Pakistan number had been dialled “by mistake”, a claim now under scrutiny as agencies examine whether his foreign contacts were incidental or part of a sustained pattern of communication.
Officials said investigators are likely to analyse his mobile phone data, WhatsApp activity, social media accounts and internet history, apart from identifying persons who may have interacted with him through any digital platform.
Police sources said Liyaqat, who works as a labourer, had shifted with the family from Lakhnauti village to a rented accommodation in Gangoh town because of hardship. Investigators are also examining whether Sohail had travelled out of Uttar Pradesh earlier too and how he funded his movements and whether anyone in western UP helped facilitate his stay or work outside the state.
Sohail was arrested after intelligence inputs with local police there saying preliminary examination of his phone pointed to suspected contact with Pakistan-based individuals through social media and messaging platforms. Karnataka authorities have not yet publicly detailed the exact offences invoked against him, and the full extent of the allegations remains under investigation.
Officials in Uttar Pradesh said teams from the NIA and Karnataka are also expected to visit Saharanpur. For investigators here, the immediate task is to determine whether Sohail was operating in isolation, whether he had built any support network in the district and whether his digital contacts had any link to persons in Uttar Pradesh.
