Bihar Police has claimed to have busted a “potential terror module indulging in anti-India activities” by arresting three people, including a retired Jharkhand police officer, with alleged links to extremist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).
Police said they have been booked under section 120 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which relates to “concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment”, and for related offences under IPC.
Two of the arrests were made in Phulwari Sharif area of Patna late Wednesday. “The arrested persons have been identified as Mohammad Jallauddin, a retired Jharkhand police officer, Athar Parvez. They have links with PFI. Jallauddin was earlier associated with Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI),” Phulwari Sharif assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Manish Kumar said.
“They were teaching locals how to use swords and knives and also instigating them for communal violence. An investigation has revealed that people from other states were visiting them in Patna. Those visitors used to change their names while staying in hotels in the Bihar capital to conceal their identities,” he said.
Several objectionable documents pertaining to Islamic extremism have been seized from their possession, the ASP said.
The third person, arrested on Thursday, has been identified as Armaan Malik.
Parvez’s younger brother had been jailed in 2001-02 in connection with several bomb blast cases in Bihar after SIMI was banned, Kumar said.
“During the investigation, it was found that Parvez was in constant touch with members of several overseas organisations and was raising foreign funds to carry out anti-India activities. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also been engaged by the police for further probe pertaining to their money trail,” he added.
According to the FIR, registered on the basis of the statement of Phulwari Sharif police station house officer (SHO) Ekrar Ahmad, he got a tip-off that some suspects had gathered in the area to create mischief ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in Patna on July 12 and had got training in swords and knives in the premises of Ahmad Palace in the area. “Later, police team raided the house and recovered incriminating documents, including a seven-page document titled ‘India 2047’ and arrested Jalaluddin and Parvez,” the FIR says.
Jalaluddin owns the building named Ahmad Palace and Parvez had taken the second floor on rent, police said.
The arrested PFI members are also associated with Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and All India Imam Council, police said.
Confirming the arrests, Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manavjit Singh Dhillon on Thursday told reporters that PFI and SDPI mobilise and radicalise their cadres from time to time and provide them arms training.
“In Bihar, PFI and SDPI are not banned. They train youths on the pretext of physical education, on the pattern of RSS, and organise branch meetings,” he said.
The SSP, however, said the arrested suspects did not intend to target PM Modi during his July 12 visit.
“There are no specific inputs that the arrested persons gathered ahead of PM’s visit. On July 6 and 7, more than 12 persons from outside Bihar also attended the meeting held at Ahmad Palace,” the SSP said.
The FIR in the case has named a total of 26 people from Patna, Nalanda, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Katihar, Araria, Vaishali, Saran and East Champaran districts. “Those named in FIR and others who have attended the meeting will be summoned and interrogated. Police have evidence that some suspects came from Kerala, Chennai and Telangana and were giving training in swords and knives in the name of martial arts,” the SSP said.
Police have also got hold of related video footages.
“India Vision 2047”
Police said one of the seized documents was titled: “India 2047: Towards rule of Islamic India, Internal documents, Not for Circulation.”
Page number 3 of he document says PFI is confident that “even if 10% of total Muslim population rallies behind it, it would subjugate the coward majority community to their knees and bring back the glory of Islamic country”, police said.
On page number 7, it says that “in the scenario of full-fledged showdown with the state, apart from relying on our trained cadres, we would need help from friendly Islamic countries. In the last few years, PFI has developed friendly relationship with Turkey, a flagbearer of Islam. Efforts are on to cultivate reliable friendship in some other Islamic countries”, the police said.
“All our frontal organisations should be focussed on expanding and recruiting new members. We would begin to recruit and train members in attack and defence techniques, use of swords, rods and other weapons,” the document reads, according to police.
The PFI document also enumerated plans to recruit “loyal Muslims” into government departments, including executive and judicial positions as well as the police and the Army, police said.
According to the document, PFI also plans to “create a split between RSS and SCs/STs/OBCs” by projecting the organisation as an outfit interested only in the welfare of “upper caste Hindus,” police said.
