A screenshot of the hacked website of Railnet by al Qaeda A screenshot of the hacked website of Railnet by al Qaeda

A microsite of the Railnet page of the Indian government was found hacked by al Qaeda today in a demonstration of the terrorist group’s ability to intercept the government’s web directory. This is the first time a government page has been hacked by al Qaeda.

The page belongs to Bhusawal division of Personnnel Department of Central Railways and is part of the large intranet created for administrative needs of the Indian Railways.

A writing on the hacked site read, “Massage to Muslim People in India from AQIS (sic).” An attached document on the site opened to a message to Indian Muslims from Maulana Aasim Umar, the chief of the Al Qaeda in south Asia.

“Will the land of Delhi not give birth to a Shah Muhadith Delhvi who may once again teach the Muslims of India the forgotten lesson of Jihad and inspire them to take to the battlefields of Jihad? ” the message read.

Umar, in his message, exhorts the Muslims in India to participate in what he calls ‘global jihad’ and help defeat America and its allies. Umar was a resident of Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh and was appointed chief of the al Qaeda in the Indian sub-continent last year.

Educated at the famous Dar-ul-Uloom seminary at Deoband, from where he graduated in 1991, Umar, who is also known as Sanaul Haq, had become allegedly involved in jihadist circles following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, investigators say they had been told by his alleged lieutenants whose arrest was announced on December 2015. He disappeared from Sambhal in 1995, severing contacts with his family.

Additionally, the terrorist group also hacked the official website of the National Jute Manufacturers Corporation Ltd on Tuesday.

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