Dehradun: Uttarakhand STF (Special Task Force) has arrested a man from Andhra Pradesh who allegedly threatened to blow up the lake city Nainital in the name of Hizbul Mujahideen, sources said on Wednesday. The arrested accused identified as Khalid, a resident of Delhi. Sources said that Khalid, previously named Nitin Sharma, has converted from Hinduism to Islam and left home and started living in Andhra Pradesh.
An official said that the STF of the Uttarakhand Police arrested Khalid from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. Uttarakhand STF said that the accused had created a Gmail account in the name of Amit Sharma on July 17, 2023 itself and had threatened to blow up Nainital by creating a fake Facebook account with the same ID.
Also read:MP man threatens to blow up VHP office in Delhi, detained
The bomb threats in the name of Hizbul Mujahideen on the said date had sent the Uttarakhand Police into a tizzy. Uttarakhand STF SP Chandra Mohan said that Khalid alias Nitinm Sharma had sent two threatening messages on the official page of the Nainital Police. Following the threats, a case was registered in Tallital police station of Nainital district on July 23, 2023.
It is said that the accused is a serial offender. An official said that similar cases have been registered against the accused in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. In the October of 2022 also, he had threatened the Nainital police with bomb blasts. The Uttarakhand STF team was searching for Nitin Sharma alias Khalid in Vijayawada of Andhra Pradesh and other districts of the state for about 20 days.
