Why Afghanistan, Hong Kong Are Emerging As Terror Hubs? What Pune Al-Qaeda Case Shows

Last Updated:December 26, 2025, 14:28 IST

Zubair Hangargekar was taken into custody over alleged links to Al-Qaeda, and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad is probing IP addresses traced to Afghanistan and Hong Kong.

Zubair Hangargekar was arrested in October over alleged links to Al-Qaeda.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has taken custody of 37-year-old software engineer Zubair Hangargekar, who is accused of having links with the banned Al-Qaeda terror outfit. This is the second time Hangargekar has been taken into custody after his arrest in October.

The ATS said that it was investigating IP addresses from Afghanistan and Hong Kong found in Hangargekar’s Telegram account. The seized electronic devices of Hangargekar and his associates revealed that they were using the ideology of terrorist organisations such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda to establish a Khilafat state and implement Sharia law in India, it said.

So far, investigators have come across 108 IDs in Hangargekar’s Telegram account. “So far, the ATS has obtained information about eight IDs, and four of them are from Afghanistan and Hong Kong, and it needs to be probed," said the ATS remand application.

Why Afghanistan, Hong Kong Are Emerging As Terror Hubs?

Top intelligence sources told CNN-News18 that Afghanistan has become a key ideological and legitimacy hub for Al-Qaeda since the Taliban takeover in 2021. They have servers, content distributors, and cyber infrastructure that give authenticity to jihadist narratives.

On the other hand, Hong Kong is classified as a technical transit and masking zone. The dense data traffic, global cloud infrastructure, VPN endpoints, and hosting services in the city make it useful for propagating extremist narratives.

Hong Kong is also used for routing communications and complicating attribution without requiring any physical presence, allowing activities to be carried out discreetly. Intelligence sources told CNN-News18 that Afghanistan and the East Asia digital corridor is increasingly used to combine ideological authority with cyber anonymity.

This is allowing terror handlers and radicalisation amplifiers to operate across jurisdictions while staying beyond the easy reach of any Indian group, sources said.

What Authorities Found?

After Hangargekar’s arrest in October 27, investigators said they found a Pakistani contact number in his old phone. During the analysis of the contact list of the phone, five international numbers were found — one from Pakistan, two from Saudi Arabia, and one each from Kuwait and Oman.

The ATS has accused Hangargekar of possessing banned extremist literature, attempting to radicalise youth, and being in touch with suspected members of the Al-Qaeda network. Officials said the material recovered suggests an effort to spread jihadist ideology through digital platforms. He was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and produced before a special court.

News world Why Afghanistan, Hong Kong Are Emerging As Terror Hubs? What Pune Al-Qaeda Case Shows

Read More