Kolkata: Hamim Mondal, the alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed operative who was arrested in Burdwan last Thursday, communicated with his Pakistani handlers first on the now-banned Element X and later on Session, both end-to-end encrypted messaging platforms, officers of Bengal’s Special Task Force (STF) said on Sunday.To avoid detection, the 23-year-old used codes such as “LMN 10” and “How’s the Josh” to indicate the movement of money and men while coordinating with his handlers, the officers said.The Centre had in May 2023 blocked 14 encrypted messaging apps, including Element X, under Section 69A of Information Technology Act, prompting Hamim to switch to Session. Although Session was not among the banned apps, sources said investigative agencies have long been scrutinising it and other platforms that strip metadata from shared messages, a feature that enhances user privacy.Hamim, who officers said worked for the notorious Shahzad Bhatti group, backed by Pakistan’s ISI, had initially used Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram like other gang members. But he switched to more secure platforms to avoid getting caught.According to the sources, Hamim was asked by his handlers to exercise extra caution after at least six group members were arrested in Delhi earlier this year.Investigators are reviewing four years of Hamim’s chat history across multiple social media platforms to gather evidence and apprehend others working for him. “The encrypted messages show that Hamim was part of the Bhatti gang, which was involved in organised crime, online radicalisation, espionage, recruitment, propaganda and terror-linked activities,” said a source.The STF seized international SIM cards issued from the UK and Mexico from Hamim. “The SIM cards are suspected to have been used for encrypted communication with handlers operating from abroad, facilitating the expansion of sleeper cells and the terror network in different parts of the country,” said IG (Bengal STF) Gaurav Sharma. Police said Hamim’s girlfriend, Arpita Sarkar, was being groomed to run espionage operations for the group. She was arrested in Jharkhand’s Sahibganj on Saturday.According to investigators, Arpita was trying to contact senior state police officers through her social media accounts as well as politicians and their secretaries to extract sensitive information from them. “She was also being trained in honey-trap operations, abductions and assassinations,” said a source. Investigators believe she was being trained to take on the role of arrested ISI operative and influencer Jyoti Malhotra.
