The Bihar Police claimed to have busted a “potential terror module indulging in anti-India activities” by arresting two people, including a retired Jharkhand police officer, with alleged links to extremist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI). The duo was arrested in Phulwari Sharif area of Patna late on Wednesday.
“The arrested persons have been identified as Mohammad Jalaluddin, a retired Jharkhand police officer, and Athar Parvez. They have links with PFI. Jalaluddin was earlier associated with Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI),” Phulwari Sharif Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Manish Kumar said.
The Bihar police has claimed that the alleged terror module has been operating from Patna for the last two months. As per the FIR, registered at 10.50 PM, 12 July, the module was working to target the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Patna on 12 July.
The place where the members of this alleged module were taking arms training from experts who had come from states as far as Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where the PFI is highly influential, is not even 5 km from the Patna airport, where the PM’s aircraft landed.
As per the 3-page FIR, the arms training was being given for at least fortnight which indicates a major security lapse regarding the PM’s security as by the own admission of the Bihar police in the FIR, they were not aware of any such module being active in Patna till the evening of 11 July.
Sources claimed that the Bihar police was made aware of the presence of the alleged module by ‘secret information’ (read inputs shared by the Intelligence Bureau-IB) which they received at 7.30 PM, 11 July.
On the basis of the information, the police raided a residential compound; Ahmed Place, Naya Tola, Phulwarisharif, Patna.
On further investigation, the police found that multiple unidentified individuals for the last two months were congregating there at regular intervals and had last met on 6,7 July, just five days before the PM’s arrival.
The police later found a document titled ‘India 2047, towards rule of Islam in India marked ‘internal documents, not for circulation’ from the said compound and similar documents calling for establishing of Islamic rule in India.
The FIR, quoting page 3 of the said document, states , “Popular Front of India is confident that even if 10% of the total Muslim population rally behind it, PFI would subjugate the coward majority community to their knees and bring back glory of Islam to India.”
Page 7 of the same document states, “In the scenario of full-fledged showdown with the state, apart from relying on our trained PE cadre, we would need help from friendly Islamic countries. In the last few years, PFI has developed friendly relationship with Turkey, a flag bearer of Islam. Efforts are on to cultivate reliable friendship in some Islamic countries.”
The FIR states that on interrogation of the people who were staying in the house, the police found that the said house belonging to Mohhamand Jalaluddin (who recently retired from Jharkhand police as a sub-inspector) was being used as a ‘training center’ to teach the use of arms and sharp weapons that was rented out to Athar Parvez, who admitted to being a member of the now banned SIMI and serving General Secretary, Patna, Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), the political wing of the PFI.
Athar further admitted before the police in the presence of locals that he had created a secret group that had members of PFI and erstwhile SIMI with the aim to ‘avenge the atrocities’ that were being committed on Muslims in India and to attack people who would insult Islam on social media platforms, on the lines of what was done in Udaipur in Rajasthan and Amravati in Maharashtra.
He also admitted to ensuring the SIMI cadre, who were imprisoned in Bihar, gets legal support from the outside.
The local CPI (ML) MLA of Phulwari, Gopal Ravidas told the Daily Guardian that Jalaluddin was an ‘hnourable man’ who had during his service days tackled naxals and terrorists. He further stated that the said room which the police claimed was being used to train the terrorists, was too small to hold 25 people.
Athar, as per the FIR, gave the name of 26 members who were a part of the module and other unnamed individuals. Many of the names accused are functionaries of the PFI.
As per ASP of Phulwari, Manish Kumar, the module had received money from Pakistan based groups in three installments to carry on their training and cultivate resources and sources. However, the same was later denied by senior police officials in Patna who said that no indication of the module being linked to any Pakistan based group was found in the preliminary investigations.
The case is likely to be transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The Patna police has so far booked two accused in the case, Athar Parvez and Jalaluddin, while other named accused are likely to be arrested in the coming days. They have been booked under Sections 120, 120 (B), 121, 121 (A), 153 (A), (B), 34 of the India Penal Code.
Parvez’s younger brother had gone to prison for carrying out blasts in 2001-02 bomb blasts in the state.