Mumbai police to get Arshi Qureshi’s custody

The Mumbai police will soon be able to take the custody of alleged ISIS recruiter and member of Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) Arshi Qureshi from the Kerala anti-terrorism squad (ATS), after a case was registered against him with the Nagpada police.

Two days ago, Abdul Majid (60), filed an FIR against Arshi Qureshi, Rizwan Khan, Hanif and Abdul Rashid Abdulla for instigating his son Ashfaq to join the ISIS. Ashfaq Majid is one of the Kerala youths who have gone missing and have allegedly joined ISIS. His father alleged his son had been in touch with Qureshi and he had impelled him to join the terror organisation.

“We are investigating the matter and interrogating some people in connection with the case. Of the four, apart from Qureshi and Rizwan, one is believed to be missing and joined ISIS. The two other accused are residents of Mumbai and its suburbs,” said a police official on condition of anonymity.

“We need the custody of the two arrested accused Qureshi and Rizwan Khan to investigate this case. Right now, we are taking statements of his family and other important people whose statements will help us in the investigation. We have mentioned this case while submitting the report on Zakir Naik to the government. We have mentioned it because of the involvement of Arshi Qureshi, who is a member of Naik’s IRF,” said the official.

Sources said that the police had also collected the statement of Asfaq’s mother. “She had overhead him talking on phone about a ‘tour’ plan. She heard that some 20 people were joining him. Whenever she asked him about what he was planning, he used to ignore her question. Ashfaq had come to Mumbai in 2010 for further studies. Later, once he got a job, he would shuttle between the two places. He had been planning something for the last two years. Of the four who has been mentioned in the FIR, Abdul Rashid Abdulla is a teacher in Peace International School in Kerala, a chain of schools established by Islamic preacher M.M. Akbar. Hanif is a maulana in Kerala and Ashfaq used to visit him,” said a source.

Earlier, the Kerala ATS along with Maharashtra ATS arrested Qureshi and Rizwan Khan from Mumbai following a complaint lodged in Kochi by the brother of a young woman, who is suspected to have joined ISIS along with her husband. Ebin Jacob (25), brother of Merin alias Mariam, who is missing along with her husband Bestin Vincent alias Yahia from Kerala, had told Palarivattom police in Kochi that there was an attempt to forcibly convert him to Islam and make him join ISIS., and that Bestin and Qureshi were behind it.