In India, a man converts to Islam and threatens to carry out jihadist bombings in many states

After a 20-day investigation, a task force team from Uttarakhand arrested an individual on August 28 in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, who had been plotting bomb attacks in various areas of Nainital. The detained man, previously known as Nitin Sharma but now identified as Khalid after his conversion to Islam, admitted to planning and threatening to carry out a series of bombings in Nainital in the name of the terrorist organization Hizbul Mujahideen.

Reports suggest that on July 17 of the same year, the individual, formerly known as Nitin Sharma, used Facebook Messenger to threaten the Nainital Media Cell police, warning of imminent serial bomb blasts within 24 hours.

On October 4, 2022, Nainital Police Control Room received bomb threats via social media, with an official Facebook page message claiming responsibility for planned bombings in different parts of the Nainital district within 24 hours on behalf of Hizbul Mujahideen.

The Additional Superintendent of Police, Chandra Mohan Singh, stated that there is no concrete evidence linking the accused to international terrorist organizations. Nevertheless, multiple bomb threat complaints have been filed against the accused in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala.

According to STF sources cited by the New Indian Express, Nitin Sharma, originally from Delhi and with a Class 10 education, confessed during the investigation that he had converted to Islam and regularly attended different mosques for prayer. He also admitted that he had no outside support and had been collecting money from various mosques during his visits.