NIA arrests 1 more person in Bihar as part of crackdown on PFI

The NIA on Sunday said it has arrested another person in Bihar as part of its crackdown on the PFI’s Phulwarisharif module.

The accused, Md Irshad Alam — a resident of East Champaran district, was nabbed from Patna’s Phulwarisharif on Saturday with the assistance of the Bihar Police, the NIA (National Investigation Agency) said in a statement.

”Pursuing investigational leads, the NIA found that despite the ban on the PFI imposed on 27th September, its leaders/cadres continued to propagate the ideology of violent extremism and were also arranging arms and ammunition to commit crimes,” the statement said.

”The arrest was made in connection with a case registered in July 2022 when four accused persons were arrested from Phulwarisharif area where they had gathered for training and to carry out acts of terror and violence. Three more persons were arrested in February this year,” it said.

PFI cadres in Phulwarisharif and Motihari ”had vowed to continue PFI activities” in a clandestine manner and also collected firearms and ammunition recently to eliminate ”a youth of a particular community” in East Champaran, claimed the NIA.

”Md Irshad Alam was in close touch with Yakub Khan, a physical education trainer of PFI who has been accused of putting up videos on social media to aimed at spreading communal tensions. Yakoob, along with Md Irshad Alam and other associates, had planned to execute a targeted killing and conducted a recce and procured weapons to this end,” said the NIA.

With this, the number of accused arrested has gone up to 13, the NIA said, adding that the agency had, in January this year, filed a charge sheet against four persons.