The ATS is also preparing to seek Shankhwar’s police custody remand following the recovery of fresh evidence from his mobile phone and laptop. Shankhwar was arrested on October 28. (File)The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has written to Google’s Gmail office in California, seeking the blocking of over 20 lakh email accounts allegedly recovered from the laptop of 24-year-old Ankit Shankhwar, who was arrested last month for allegedly creating fake email IDs linked to a series of hoax bomb threats in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai last month.Officials said Shankhwar allegedly used fictitious identities to create the accounts and sold them in bulk to anti-India elements based in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries in exchange for cryptocurrency.A senior ATS officer said the agency has sent an online request, along with a covering letter, to Gmail, sharing a list of the accounts and seeking their blocking to prevent possible misuse. The ATS is also preparing to seek Shankhwar’s police custody remand following the recovery of fresh evidence from his mobile phone and laptop. Shankhwar was arrested on October 28.Police said he is an intermediate pass-out and had earlier worked in the share market. His father is an e-rickshaw driver and he is the youngest of three sons. Police sources said Shankhwar was using a second-hand laptop, which he had purchased from a local resident.Officials said the case came to light after the ATS received intelligence about threatening emails being sent from a suspicious email ID, simenbriones9265@gmail.com, on October 12.Officials said the emails, purportedly sent in the name of the Khalistan National Army-Babbar Khalsa, threatened bomb attacks on several schools in Gautam Buddh Nagar district, Delhi and Gurugram, a Delhi-NCR show by Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh, and the residence of a prominent Bollywood actor.Another account, smithjohnson6889@gmail.com, was allegedly used to send a bomb threat to the Mumbai Mayor’s Office on October 23, said officials. Following a technical examination of the email account, the ATS traced its access to Kanpur Nagar district and identified Shankhwar, a resident of the Ghatampur area, as the alleged mastermind.Story continues below this adA mobile phone and laptop were seized from him. An initial examination of the laptop revealed several Excel files and cryptocurrency wallets, along with nearly 5 lakh email IDs, the ATS said. Further examination of the devices led investigators to identify more than 20 lakh accounts.During questioning, Shankhwar allegedly told the ATS that he had been creating fake email IDs since 2021, generating lakhs of accounts over the years. He would also sometimes buy existing email accounts, reset their passwords and sell them to others, officials claimed.He allegedly used WiFi and proxy networks to create these email accounts, making it difficult to trace their actual users.According to the ATS, Shankhwar told them that he bought and sold fake email IDs through Facebook groups dedicated to trading such accounts. It was through these groups that he allegedly established contact with individuals and groups in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Egypt and other countries.