LUCKNOW, April 6 -- The Bijnor police's role has come under sharp scrutiny after investigators found that a suspect linked to a Pakistan-backed terror module was reportedly given a clean chit in an AK-47 video-call case in November last year. The clean chit came months before the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) busted a suspected cross-border sabotage network in west Uttar Pradesh after arresting four suspects near Lucknow railway station on Friday, sources and senior ATS officials said. According to police and intelligence sources familiar with the probe, the suspect, identified as Aaqib, a resident of Sathla village in Meerut who is believed to be operating from Dubai, figured in a video-call case that surfaced in November 2025. The video allegedly showed Aaqib along with Bijnor resident Maijul and Saqib alias Devil-one of the four men recently arrested by the ATS-during a video call in which Aaqib was seen holding what appeared to be an AK-47 assault rifle. Sources in the ATS said the video has now emerged as a crucial link in establishing the nexus between the arrested suspects and handlers based across the border. Police records accessed by Hindustan Times show that an FIR was registered at Nagal police station in Bijnor on November 23, 2025, under Sections 7 and 25 of the Arms Act and Section 69A of the Information Technology Act against Aaqib, Maijul and one unidentified accused. The FIR was lodged on the complaint of sub-inspector Vinod Kumar after taking cognisance of a post on X by advocate Kartik Baliyan, who had tagged Bijnor police and UP Police, alleging that the youths seen in the video were involved in anti-national activities, people familiar with the matter said. Despite the seriousness of the allegations and the apparent presence of an assault rifle in the video, the case was later closed after a local inquiry reportedly concluded that the weapon shown was merely a "toy gun," effectively giving the accused a clean chit. UP ATS investigators now suspect this closure may have allowed a key suspect to evade sustained scrutiny. "The November video is now being revisited as an important digital lead. It appears to have direct relevance to the larger terror conspiracy unearthed by the ATS," a senior investigator said on condition of anonymity. Officials familiar with the matter said the earlier district-level inquiry was allegedly limited in scope and relied largely on telephonic questioning, without physical verification, cyber forensics or deeper intelligence coordination. The ATS probe into the recently busted module revealed that Saqib and his associates were allegedly in touch with Pakistani handlers through Telegram, Signal, Instagram and foreign numbers, and had been tasked with reconnaissance, targeted arson and railway sabotage across west UP and Delhi-NCR. Additional director general of police (Law and Order) Amitabh Yash, while briefing the media after the arrests, referred to videos of Aaqib holding an AK-47 and said he had allegedly introduced Saqib to Pakistani handlers through social media, sources said."The current probe indicates that the accused may have remained active after the earlier case was closed. That angle is being examined very seriously," an ATS officer said. Investigators are also examining whether an arson incident reported in Bijnor on March 4 this year, in which a vehicle bearing a Hindu religious symbol was allegedly set on fire, was linked to the same destabilisation plan aimed at creating panic and communal tension....