NOIDA: Twenty-year-old Naushad Ali, arrested for allegedly sharing “sensitive” data with a Pakistani number, was living a quiet life in Faridabad. For the past four months, he lived with his uncle and spent his days repairing punctured tyres at a petrol pump in Nachauli village that opened a year ago.Naushad, originally from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, is now among 18 people in custody, accused of being part of a network that allegedly filmed railway stations and govt offices across Delhi-NCR and Mumbai and shared sensitive footage with a Pakistani number. Investigators say he was one of the key handlers tasked with recruiting others.Employees at the pump said Naushad’s behaviour appeared completely normal and they never noticed anything suspicious. He slept in a small office at the pump, ordered his meals online, and never turned down work.Naushad was among the three main handlers who were drawn into the network by Sardar alias Jora Singh, the key recruiter operating across India. He came in contact with Sardar on social media about two years ago.Naushad dropped out of school after Class 5 due to financial hardships. Before working at the Nachauli petrol pump, Naushad worked at a restaurant in Kolkata and visited Delhi often.A senior police officer told TOI that the petrol pump manager where Naushad was employed had approached Mumtaz — a Faridabad-based puncture repair shop owner — to find someone for the job. Mumtaz, who is also from Muzaffarpur, shares a close friendship with Naushad’s uncle, Ali Raja, who lives in Faridabad. Ali was trying to secure work for his nephew, and when the opportunity came up, he reached out to Naushad.Police on Sunday picked up Naushad, Meera (28), from Mathura, and a 17-year-old boy. With the latest police action, the number of suspects in custody has risen to 18, including six minors.Police investigation revealed that Naushad, Sameer and Sohail were the main handlers, and their role was to add more people to the gang. Naushad and Sohail convinced more than 20 people to join the gang.A special investigation team has since been formed on the chief minister’s order.“Naushad’s role was to identify and bring in young people with technical skills such as mobile repair, computer work and CCTV handling, especially from poor backgrounds, by offering them money. During investigation, we found more than 10 social media groups linked to him, each with 70 to 80 members,” a senior officer said.Police earlier identified Naushad, Sameer and Sohail as key operatives in the network. The three, along with Mehak, who was arrested earlier, and Meera, were in direct touch with Sardar, while others allegedly acted on instructions passed through WhatsApp groups.According to police, the accused installed solar-powered, SIM-based standalone CCTV cameras at Delhi Cantt and Sonipat railway stations and shared the live feed with the Pakistani number. One camera was removed from Delhi Cantt on March 14 and another from Sonipat on March 18. A senior police officer said that several raids have been conducted to arrest Sameer.The devices were allegedly fixed about 20ft high on platform poles to capture three to four platforms as well as movement of trains. Police said there was also a plan to install similar cameras at 50 more locations from Delhi to Kashmir to gather sensitive military information.“They received instructions through a specific number and were paid for each task. Prima facie, they were paid Rs 5,000 or more per assignment. Chats contained photographs of several locations in Delhi-NCR, though some had been deleted,” the officer said. A case has been registered at Kaushambi police station under sections 152 and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act.
