The outfit also spread text messages of hatred against the northeast community in Bangalore which resulted in several students from the region being attacked. This operation was led by a new head of the outfit suspected to be in Pakistan.
A reference to this act is mentioned in the 277-page chargesheet filed by the agency against the outfit's India operations chief Ahmed Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal. The chargesheet said that "investigation has established that in pursuance of the conspiracy, the operatives of IM have been making attempts to foment communal tension in different parts of India".
The chargesheet details a chat between Bhatkal and his associate Afeef Mota (in Pakistan) on July 12, 2013 which talks about a certain member of the outfit having participated in spreading fake news about atrocities against Muslims at the hands of northeastern people. The chargesheet said, "Yasin asked whether their new head had participated in any jihadi operation in India. It was revealed that he had sent SMSs to create panic in northeast region, people staying in Bangalore and other southern states and planned to create violence between groups in India by fake SMSs to avenge the assassination of some Rohingya Muslims."
During the 2012 Assam conflict, as clashes broke out between Bodos and Muslims in the state, a ripple effect was felt across the country, particularly in Mumbai and Bangalore, where some people from the northeast came under indiscriminate attack. This was largely fuelled by some fake Facebook photos — some of which were traced to Pakistan — that showed Muslims being killed in Assam.
There was also a flurry of messages containing false information about atrocities on either community that spread panic among people forcing them to flee cities. Elements from both the Muslim and and Hindu rightwing participated in such propaganda.
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