Another raid in Patna by Bihar ATS, NIA; incriminating docs found

Patna, July 15 (IANS) A joint team of Bihar Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday conducted a raid in the city's Sabji Bagh locality and recovered many incriminating documents from the offices of the Popular Front of India (PFI) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), officials said.

The raid was conducted just a day after several persons were arrested on Thursday for allegedly indulging in anti-national activities following raids here in the Phulwari Sharif area which also led to seizure of several documents including the PFI's 'Mission 2047' for making India an Islamic state.

During the raids on Friday, the joint team seized posters, banners and a large number of "joining forms" -- which the officials suspect -- hint towards the possibility that a large number of youth were in contact with the PFI and the SDPI.

The joint team of Bihar ATS and NIA have also obtained some crucial leads about the alleged members of these two organisations.

The sleuths are hopeful of making more arrests in the coming days.

A total of seven persons have been arrested so far of which one is a retired sub-inspector from Jharkhand.

One of the arrested individuals, Arman Malik, is facing the murder charge and was also convicted to 20 years jail. He was on bail and was actively participating in the meetings of PFI and SDPI.

The other accused are identified as Tahir Ahmed, Shabbir Malik, Shamim Akhtar and Ilias Tahir a.k.a. Magrub. The accused have been lodged in a special cell of Patna Beur jail amid tight security.

During the questioning, it was revealed that Tahir a.k.a. Magrub has formed WhatsApp and messenger groups, and were adding youth from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Magrub is a native of Phulwari Sharif.

The Patna Police have registered FIR against 26 people and 10 of them are said to be residents of Patna.

Police sources said that they are influential persons operating in the group by changing their identities and names. Some of them are "big businessmen".

Shamim Akhtar, one of the alleged accused was arrested from Sohsarai locality in Nalanda district. He was involved in CAA and NRC protests.

The alleged accused including Athar Parvez, Mohammad Jalaluddin, Arman Malik, Ilias Tahir, Shamim Akhtar, and others conducted a "secret" meeting on July 7.

The joint team on Friday seized 25 pamphlets in Hindi, and 3,050 in Urdu and 49 cotton flags having colours of sky blue, red and green with stars. As the PFI is not banned in Bihar, its members were expanding the organisation in many districts of the state such as Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Katihar, Madhubani, Purnea, Araria, Kishanganj, and other districts.

The joint team has reportedly obtained vital proof after scanning the cell phone of Athar Parvez. The CDR of his mobile phone is being scanned to collect more information that could act as a "proof".

Patna SSP Manavjeet Singh Dhillon said: "The investigation is currently underway and more arrests look possible..."

He further said the accused were providing physical training to the youth and trying to radicalize them for anti national activities. He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not their direct target.

Sources said many BJP and RSS members are in the target list of the alleged PFI and SDPI operatives.