NIA carries out raids in Patna, Darbhanga
The NIA, ATS, and local police conducted raids in Bihar's Darbhanga and Patna districts in connection with the "unlawful and anti-national activities" of the Popular front of India.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a joint operation with the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) and local police teams on Sunday carried out multiple raids in Bihar’s Darbhanga and Patna districts in connection with the “unlawful and anti-national activities” of banned outfit Popular front of India (PFI), officials privy to the matter said.
The central agency raided one place each in Darbhanga and Patna, said the officials.During the raids in Darbhanga, the NIA sleuths took into custody a suspect and interrogated him for four hours after detaining him at Behera police station in the district. According to an official of Bahera police station, the team raided Chhotki Bazaar and took into custody Mohd Shamimullah, son of Mohd Habibullah. He was interrogated by the NIA team for nearly four hours, said the officials. His mobile phone’s sim card was confiscated and later he was released from the custody. Darbhanga senior superintendent of police (SSP) Awakash Kumar confirmed that Samiullah had been detained and later released after interrogation.
According to the officials familiar with the development, Shamimullah used to study at a madrasa in Patna and did translation work in Arabic. NIA has reportedly seized some books from him. According to the officials, “important evidence” has also been found in his mobile. The agency has traced WhatsApp chats that “links him to some suspects in Mumbai”, the officials added.
Shamimullah’s father, Mohd Habibullah said for the past three years, his son had been studying at a madrasa located in Phulwari Sharif, Patna. “My son is innocent. He will be present whenever and wherever he is called for interrogation”, he added.
According to the NIA, incriminating material, including digital devices (mobile phones, memory cards), SIM cards and documents were seized during the raids, news agency ANI reported.
The central agency started conducting raids simultaneously at Phulwari Sharif area in Patna and Darbhanga on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, according to one of the officials quoted above.
In Patna, the NIA team raided a book shop owned by Mohammad Rizauddin Qasmi, suspected to be a PFI hideout, near Imarat-e-Sharia in Phulwari Sharif, said the officials. Qasmi was
The joint teams of NIA and ATS started the raids around 5am, which lasted till 8am in Phulwari Sharif, said the officials. An eyewitness Mohammad MD Alam claimed, “The book shop belongs to Mohammad Rizauddin Qasmi. I know him personally and he is not involved in anything illegal. The raid started in the morning and continued for three to four hours. They (the officials) looked at something but found nothing”.
The joint teams raided multiple locations associated with the PFI to “gather crucial evidence” said another official familiar with the matter.
Meanwhile, Qasmi’s daughter requesting anonymity said, “The NIA team along with local police also searched my father’s house at Ishapur Khalipura area in Patna. They seized some books, photographs, SIM cards, two cell phones and a picture of bank details.”
“My father is being falsely implicated in this case. He runs a simple shop,”she alleged.
The NIA and ATS carried out the raids on the basis of inputs from West Champaran resident Mumtaz Ansari who was arrested from a factory in Tamil Nadu on June 19. A case against Ansari was lodged in Phulwari Sharif police station in Patna, said officials. Ansari was later handed over to NIA for further investigation.
The raids pertain to the involvement of the accused and suspected persons associated with the banned outfit in “unlawful and anti-national activities”, who assembled in the Phulwari Sharif area of Patna.
Earlier, on April 25, separate teams of NIA had raided a dentist’s house and one other place in Darbhanga.
The NIA had carried searches in multiple locations including at Patna, Darbhanga, East Champaran, Nalanda and Madhubani districts on July 28 last year at the premises of accused and suspects in connection with the involvement of suspects associated with the PFI in “anti-national activities”, according to the press statement issued by the agency earlier.
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