Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jan 29: The police here have learnt that Gulam Mustafa, who was arrested relating to cyber terrorism and is currently in the custody of Rajagopalanagar police here, has links with terrorists operating in USA and other countries. Gulam, who hails from Jharkhand, has revealed that he had used two American SIM cards during his operations.

The police have found that Mustafa had acquired over ten SIM cards and for acquiring them, he had created several fake Aadhar cards. The police said that as per information, he had bought American SIM cards in the name of others.

Gulam Mustafa

Mustafa allegedly was involved with cyber terrorism Hawala business through digital currency. The police are trying to find out whether he had remitted money to terrorist organizations. Mustafa had transferred about Rs 20 crore he siphoned off through fake IRCTC account, to about 3,000 accounts. This money was converted by him into digital currency through middlemen. Thereafter, money was remitted through bitcoins and cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency transfers are done without getting noticed by any of the agencies or networks. Therefore, it is believed that he would have extended monetary assistance to terrorist organizations.

In order to keep his transaction a secret, he had collected information about the contacts he had with terrorists in Pakistan and other countries, and had stored all information in Google drive. After they accessed his laptop, the police said, they got details of his activities.

Mustafa, during his questioning, maintained that he is illiterate but the police doubt his statement as he has thorough knowledge of modern technology. He is also not giving out information about how he collected information on Cartosat of ISRO. He is believed to have got that information to gather information about some sensitive areas in Karnataka and India. He is found to be an expert in cybercrime and he had bought two domains for the purpose. He had stayed in Bengaluru in 2015 during which period he resided at Peenya here and worked for a mosque. During this period, he learnt the art of developing software, hacking of software, online frauds etc. He maintained Darknet software of Pakistan and through it, developed a hack software through which he hacked software of railways, other government department and individuals. So far he has defrauded these agencies to the extent of about Rs 20 crore by sitting at home and using his laptop, the police said.