Farhatullah Ghori (58), a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist, has posted a video on Telegram exhorting his followers to carry out large-scale train derailments in Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities. Inciting jihadists to disrupt transportation systems and attacking critical infrastructure to create widespread chaos, Ghori’s message includes explicit instructions to attack petrol pipelines and logistics chains, reflecting his intent to significantly undermine India's infrastructure. Ghori said these acts would cause havoc in India.
One of India's Most Wanted Terrorists Farahtullah Ghori, who is originally from Telengana, stated, "Indian government is targeting our properties through ED and NIA, but we will remain steadfast and usurp power sooner or later".
The reference is apparently to wakf properties whose management is being sought to be regulated by the Modi government through a bill introduced recently in Parliament.
Notably, Ghori’s train derailment remarks have alarmed the Indian authorities. Sources in the security establishment say that they are currently reviewing train derailment incidents that transpired in the recent past. It may be recalled that recently the Uttar Pradesh had arrested a youth who was placing obstacles on railway tracks.
Sources reveal that authorities are scrutinizing incidents linked to Ghori's threats. On August 23 and 24, cement blocks were deliberately placed on railway tracks in an attempt to derail a Vande Bharat train in Pali district, Rajasthan.
On the same day, the Farrukhabad Express, traveling between Kasganj and Farrukhabad, narrowly avoided a major accident after encountering a wooden log on the tracks. Additionally, authorities are reviewing the Palghar railway incident on May 28, where the derailment of seven wagons of a goods train was caused by loosened steel coils, each weighing between 20 and 22 tonnes, tied onto the wagons.
This incident resulted in Western Railway (WR) losses of Rs 1.5 crore and significant train disruptions. In his 12-minute video, Ghori advocates for an "ishtishadi jung" or "fidayeen war" against Hindu leaders and police. He encourages militants to experiment with different tactics to identify the most effective methods to attack them.
Ghori has been on the radar of Indian agencies following investigations that revealed his involvement in several attacks. The NIA suspects that Ghori is operating as an ISIS handler in India and was implicated in the Rameswaram blast.
According to reliable agency sources, the investigation has uncovered that Ghori, under the guise of ISIS, has been involved in terrorist operations in India with support from the ISI. For these operations, Ghori has focused on establishing terror modules in Delhi, Pune, Maharashtra, and Kerala, aiming to fund activities through criminal activities (Maal-e-Ghanimat). His goal is to portray these activities as part of a "homegrown" and "self-radicalized" network.
Ghori is known to use various aliases, including Abu Sultan, Abu Suleman, Mohammad@Bhai, Abu, Abu Sufiyan, Sardar Saheb, and Faru, making him a notably enigmatic figure in the shadowy world of terrorism.
During the NIA investigation, in several terror related cases the agency found that Ghori held the title of 'Ameer' and engaged radicalised youth in their terror plans. During the investigation of Delhi terror module last year after the arrest of Shahnawaz Alam, Rizwan Ashraf and Arsad Warsi by Delhi special cell and NIA learned that Pak-ISI has created a façade of India focused ISIS by using PAK based and protected fugitive terrorist Farahtullah Gauri and his son-in-law Shahid Faisal (presently hiding in Pakistan while working for Pak-ISI).
Following leads obtained through reliable sources and technical means, several ISIS terror modules with footprints in UP, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Maharashtra were identified. In which, NIA again found ingredients of Gauri working as an ISIS handler.
