Bhopal has repeatedly surfaced in terror investigations over the past decade from Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and JMB modules to Hizb-ut-Tahrir, PFI and ISIS-linked probes. The latest arrest of Mohammad Faraz, allegedly being groomed as a “lone wolf” attacker, has put Madhya Pradesh’s capital under the security scanner again.
But behind these arrests lies another disturbing trail. Internal BSNL documents show UIDAI had warned that Aadhaar cards linked to “terrorists” were allegedly being generated through cloned BSNL Aadhaar machines in Madhya Pradesh.
The warning came in November 2023. Twenty-six months later, documents accessed by NDTV show no FIR, no clear police probe, and no known alert to state anti-terror agencies. Instead, files kept moving between offices.
On December 6, 2023, BSNL’s MP Circle wrote to all Business Area Heads citing an email received from UIDAI’s Regional Office in Delhi. The letter said Aadhaar “clone machines” were allegedly being operated through a vendor, M/s Royal Communication, and were being used for “parallel enrolment” activities. It also recorded that supervisors and operators were suspected to be involved.
BSNL ordered the immediate de-registration of all Aadhaar Enrolment Kits through which the alleged parallel enrolments were carried out. It also directed that every kit associated with Royal Communication be taken offline.
The annexure attached to the letter listed 79 Aadhaar Enrolment Kits spread across Bhopal, Vidisha, Sagar, Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh, Jabalpur, Balaghat, Mandla, Narsinghpur, Satna, Seoni, Shahdol, Chhindwara, Gwalior, Shivpuri and other areas.
Then came the silence.
In documents accessed by NDTV dating back two years, there is no record of an FIR, a criminal investigation, or a formal referral to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) or other security agencies. The matter appears to have remained trapped inside departmental correspondence.
On February 2, 2026, BSNL MP Circle wrote again, this time on the question of blacklisting or debarring Royal Communication. The letter acknowledged that UIDAI had flagged the vendor for alleged “fraudulent/corrupt practices” during Aadhaar enrolment. But it said tenders were handled at the Business Area level, so blacklisting would fall under the jurisdiction of the concerned BA.
In effect, 26 months after a national-security red flag, the system was still debating who had the authority to blacklist the vendor.
Stalled Investigation?
Government sources told NDTV that an email had been received raising possible malpractice by operators deployed by the BSNL MP Circle. The communication was shared with BSNL for enquiry and appropriate action. Another email has recently been sent to BSNL, but sources said the company has not yet responded on its investigation or action.
BSNL MP Circle Chief General Manager Mithilesh Kumar told NDTV, “We have taken preventive measures. All precautionary measures have been taken by de-registration. As per the advice of UIDAI, all the machines have been re-registered with static IP addresses to prevent misuse.”
He added, “For the rest, I am not competent to answer. We can only take preventive measures. If they have any input, they have to give it to the proper agency which is competent to carry out the investigation.”
When NDTV asked former home minister Dr Narottam Mishra about the matter, he said he had no knowledge of it.
Mystery
A senior Madhya Pradesh ATS official said JMB members arrested from Bhopal’s Aishbagh in 2022 had obtained Aadhaar cards in Bengal or Assam using fake voter IDs, but the ATS had received no information or complaint suggesting terrorists had obtained Aadhaar cards inside Madhya Pradesh.
That is where the mystery deepens. UIDAI flagged it. BSNL recorded it. Machines were deregistered. But the state’s anti-terror agency says it was never informed.
The timing makes the lapse even more serious. Bhopal has already seen repeated terror-linked arrests – JMB suspects in Aishbagh in 2022, Hizb-ut-Tahrir suspects in 2023, PFI-linked arrests, ISIS-linked probes, and now the Faraz case involving alleged Pakistan-based handlers and online radicalisation.
Official records show 71 terror suspects linked to SIMI, PFI, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, ISIS and JMB are lodged in Bhopal Central Jail.
The case also echoes an old warning from another identity breach. In a recent Bhopal fake passport case, two passport officials, a clerk and an agent were sentenced for helping a terror accused obtain a passport using forged documents. That passport allegedly helped him leave India, reach Pakistan and return after training.
