Why Fake Muslim Names Have Become the Latest Tool for 'Criminals'

Recently, a boy used the name 'Nasir Pathan' and threatened to blow Kumbh Mela — turns out he was Ayush Jaiswal.

The pattern of using fake Muslim names to commit crime has become a systemic issue in India.

(Photo: Vibhushita Singh/The Quint)

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In the build-up to the 2025 Kumbh Mela, a social media post emerged which threatened to carry out a bomb blast, killing at least 1,000 devotees at the gathering.

The threat was issued by an account named 'Nasir Pathan'.

Upon investigation by the police, it was revealed that it was a class 11th student, a 17-year-old Ayush Kumar Jaiswal who had created a fake account.

"Shararat mein kiya usne, he had got into some conflict with a fellow classmate," Rajesh Dwivedi, SSP Kumbh Mela told The Quint.

This is the latest case in a worrying trend where some individuals impersonate Muslims, creating fake accounts or email IDs to commit crimes, make threats and/or spread hateful content.

But such instances are have ramifications. In this piece, we look at a number of such cases and the impact they had.

Read more stories by this reporter here.

In Jaiswal's case, a joint team of the Mela police and cyber cell and traced his IP address and found out that he belonged to Purnia district of Bihar.

"We have arrested him and are investigating into it further, there was no other accomplice, it was just him," added the police official. However, Dwivedi rubbished the claims that he had fled to Nepal.

The police filed an FIR at Mela Kotwali police station in Prayagraj under sections 351 (2) (criminal intimidation) 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

While speaking with The Quint, Delhi University Professor Apoorvanand said that this is part of an old tactic of Hindutva organisations. "Earlier too, in many cases that involved a carcass or meat being thrown in front of temples, it was found to be done by Hindutva people impersonating as Muslims to defame them."

So this is not new. But now what has happened is that with the explosion of social media, it has spread like wildfire and people do it because they think they'll have impunity. It's an amplification of the playbook. Even if they are caught, we don't know what punishment they eventually got.

Apoorvanand, Professor to The Quint

Meanwhile, Congress leaders such as Imran Pratapgarhi and Supriya Shrinate had also condemned the incident.

Case 2: The Bomb Threat to Ram Mandir

On 27 December 2023, Devendra Tiwari, a Lucknow resident announced on social media that a man named Zuber Khan sent him an email, threatening to kill him, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Additional Director General of Police Amitabh Yash.

Laced with highly incendiary, hateful language, in the email he blamed them for making life hell for Muslims and threatened: "Our people have reached UP and Devendra Tiwari, Yogi Adityanath and Amitabh Yash will be blown up."

To add more 'masala,' the last lines of the email read, "I swear on Allah that they will be tortured and killed. ISI takes full responsibility for this..."

Devendra Tiwari has himself posted about the alleged 'threats' he got.

(Photo: X/Twitter)

There was another Khan. In November 2023, Tiwari claimed that he received a threatening email along similar lines from a man named Alam Ansari Khan.

A few days later, the STF made a big development. They arrested two men who had sent the emails — neither of them being Muslim. The accused were Tahar Singh and Om Prakash Mishra from Gonda.

Tiwari himself asked Singh and Mishra to send the emails under fake identities ([e-mail]) and ([e-mail]).

Advocate Anas Tanwir says that the motivation behind this is deeply rooted in perpetuating communal tensions and how it further isolates Muslims in the society.

It's not just about creating suspicion; it’s a deliberate attempt to weaponize communal biases and reinforce stereotypes that portray Muslims as violent or anti-national. This tactic is particularly insidious because it not only harms the direct victim of the threat but also vilifies an entire community. It reflects the growing normalization of Islamophobia, where associating Muslims with crime or violence is a calculated political tool.

Advocate Anas Tanwir to The Quint

That is what Tiwari intended. It is also not new for him. In March 2022, February 2022, November 2022 and December 2021, he alleged to have made received similar threats.

In this case, the police recovered 2 mobile phones, WiFi router and a digital video recorder from Singh and Mishra.

Last year in January, the STF said, "It was found that an FIR was registered in Alambagh police station, Lucknow and Sushant Golf City police station.... After technical analysis of the used mail ID, Tahar Singh who created the e-mail ID and Om Prakash Mishra who sent the threat mail were arrested."

The Quint also spoke to Deputy Superintendent of Police, STF UP to get an update if any action was also taken against Tiwari as he continues to be active on X.

Our locus was to work out the case and make the arrest. The district courts are looking into it. As for Devendra Tiwari, he was absconding at that time. We did our job and figured out the conspiracy. Now it's up to the local police stations where the case was filed.

Pramesh Kumar Shukla, Deputy Superintendent of Police, STF Uttar Pradesh to The Quint

However, when The Quint called Alambagh police station and we received no response.

Tiwari had allegedly carried out the deed for political clout. He runs an NGO in the name of Bharatiya Kisan Manch and Bharatiya Gau Seva Parishad and has many cases registered against him in several police stations in Lucknow.

Both Mishra and Singh were apparently working at a college run by him: Indian Institute Para Medical Sciences at Alambagh, the police said.

Karen Rebelo, Deputy Editor of BOOM, a fact-checking website, stated that when they debunk such cases, the Muslim community is at the target and it is deliberate.

"It is most rampant on X, not the same modus operandi as other platforms but there are instances where people share videos, calling the perpetrator Muslim. Then it turns out that it's either not a Muslim or the video is not from India. With bomb threats and hoaxes, it’s easier as they reinforce negative stereotypes, They’re also sporadic but there are also enough instances," Rebelo told The Quint.

Case 3: Muslim Attire to Spread Hate?

Meet Dhirendra Raghav. Residing in Agra, he was arrested in June 2024 after an Agra court sent him to judicial custody for allegedly inciting communal tensions. The local police also detained him for impersonating as a Muslim and abusing the Hindu community.

Barely 10-15 days later on 23 June, Raghav was in 'Muslim attire' again but this time, he danced to a Bollywood song instead of pretending to be a hateful, aggressive Muslim.

Suraj Kumar Rai, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) City, Agra had stated last year that a case was registered under Section 295 A (malicious intent of outraging religious feelings) and 505 (2) (making/circulating content intended to create hatred) of the IPC.

Since his release, Raghav has changed his content on Instagram, he still posts pro-Sanatani and pro-Hindu content and dresses up as a Muslim.

But with cases like these, whether it's a bomb threat or hate speech done by impersonating Muslims, the damage is already done as intended to.

"It is done to spread the impression first and foremost that Muslims are doing it, that has done its work. The prejudice in people's mind gets further entrenched. They'll think, "dekho kar bhi toh Musalmaan hi rahe hain." The media too plays it down," noted Professor Apoorvanand.

Moreover, Rebelo told The Quint how when news like this is fact-checked, it does not have the same reach or virality as the original post.

You can check the statistics, when we fact-check such cases, the post debunking the information has little to no reach and shares viz-a-viz the initial, misleading post. Once it’s out there and widely shared, even if you put a community note to it, nobody is going back to that tweet and checking.

Karen Rebelo, BOOM to The Quint

Rebelo shared the following tweet to prove the claim:

Case 4: When Mukesh Ambani Got Extortion Emails

Then comes the case of Rajveer Khant, a BCom student who tried running a extortion racket under a Muslim sounding name.

He demanded hundreds of crores using a fake email ID of '[e-mail]' and signed off with 'Catch me if you can.'

Khant had masked his IP address using a VPN, but because he used a trial version instead of a purchased one, The Indian Express reported that VPN service provider had took off its network and exposed Khant's actual IP address.

This helped the police tracing his location to Kalol in Gujarat from where he was arrested.

This recurring issue, Tanwir stated makes for a case to consider "strengthening penalties for identity-based impersonation in a communal context" and to de-radlicise young minds poisoned due to communal agenda in the country.

This was not an exhaustive list as these cases recurringly take place every year. In March 2022, a man named Siddharoodha Srikant Nirale, 31 created a Facebook profile in the name of Mushtaq Ali and threatened family members of BJP MLC DS Arun.

So what can be done? Can there be a strong deterrent?

Tanwir also pointed out this issue is not just legal — it is systemic. He added:

"Strict enforcement of existing laws like IPC Sections 153A (promoting enmity), 505 (spreading false information), and Section 66D of the IT Act (impersonation online) is critical. An amendment recognizing impersonation aimed at inciting hatred or defaming a community could serve as a deterrent."