India, May 14 -- The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Wednesday carried out searches across multiple cities in the state and questioned 57 individuals over their alleged social media links with wanted Pakistani gangster Shehzad Bhatti, officials said.

The action followed specific intelligence inputs suggesting that the suspects had been in contact with Bhatti through social media platforms in the recent past. Officials said the ATS has placed their cyber activity and mobile communication records under scrutiny as part of the probe.

"ATS' action is being taken on the suspicion that Shehzad Bhatti is inciting the youth to engage in anti-national activities through social media," an ATS officer said.

Investigators are also gather...