National Investigation Agency (NIA), on Tuesday, 19th July 2022, arrested a Maulavi named Asghar Ali from Dhaka Bazar of Motihari in connection with the Phulwari Sharif case against the Popular Front of India (PFI). Accused Asghar Ali is a teacher in the Jamia Maria Misawa Madrasa in Dhaka Bazar.
The agency has also recovered a lot of Urdu books from him which he used to teach to his students.
Some PFI members were recently arrested in Patna city of Bihar for organising illegal arms training and radicalization activities with the goal to wage a war against India. Bihar police and the investigation agency are on high alert after these arrests. Asghar Ali’s arrest is also a part of the steps taken by NIA in this regard.
The Jamia Maria Misawa Madarasa is situated on the Pachpakdi road. While arresting Asghar Ali, the DSP of Sikrahana Rajesh Kumar and several other police officials were also present. An NIA team came from Patna to Motihari in the East Champaran area of Bihar and arrested Asghar Ali from the Jamia Madarasa. Two others were also detained at this time. All of them were taken to the Dhaka Bazar police station for questioning. After the interrogation, the other two were released by the police while the agency took Asghar Ali to Patna when the officers’ team returned. Maulana Asghar Ali is suspected to be involved in some anti-national activities.
According to reports, the FIR names Asghar Ali. When the police reached his home to investigate this case, they recovered 5 bags of Urdu books. It will be further investigated if these books are controversial.
Asghar Ali is a native of the Sisvania village of the Palanawa police station. The Jamia Maria Misawa Madarasa here is functional since 2013. Almost 100 girls study here. 24-year-old Asghar Ali shares a room with the Nayab Imam of the Badi Masjid in Dhaka Bazar. The Nayab Imam is a native of Jamua.
Superintendent of Police Dr Kumar Ashish refused to tell anything about the action of the NIA team in Dhaka. The DSP of Sikrahana Rajesh Kumar confirmed the arrival of the NIA team but did not share any other information.
Before Asghar Ali’s arrest, the Bihar police arrested five persons in Phulwari Sharif in connection with this case. A case is registered against 26 people. In the raids carried out by the Bihar police in Phulwari Sharif, many objectionable documents were recovered. One such document was titled ‘Vision 2047 India’ had documented ways to launch an armed attack on the Indian State by Indian Muslims aided by Islamic nations like Turkey. Various pamphlets of PFI were also recovered by the police.
These terrorists were being trained in Phulwari Sharif 15 days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Patna. They held meetings on July 6 and 7 and had used communally inciting speeches.
Earlier, similar arrests were made in Telangana’s Nizamabad where PFI had organised a similar radicalization camp to recruit and train Muslims in arms.
