Mumbai police get custody of ‘IS man’

An Islamic preacher, who was arrested in Kerala for his alleged links with terror outfit Islamic State (IS), was on Sunday remanded in the custody of the Mumbai police. The accused, Mohammed Hanif, was brought to the city on Sunday morning and produced before a holiday court, which sent him to police custody till August 20. Officials said that the crime branch would soon make a request for the custody of the other two accused who were arrested by the Kerala Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) last month for the same offence.

A team of crime branch officials arrested the first accused in the case — which was registered against the four accused in Nagpada on August 6 — under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Indian Penal Code, based on a complaint of the father of Ashfaque Ahmed, who had left Kerala to join IS. The Mumbai crime branch had started investigating the case and a team reached Kerala two days ago for the same.

Hanif was held from Peringathoor in Kerala’s Kannur district. He was arrested after Mumbai police officers received information about his whereabouts and nabbed him with the help of Kerala police officers on Saturday afternoon.

Sources said, “Initially, we received information that he had radicalised 12 of the 21 missing Kerala youths, including Ashfaque, who is from Mumbai. Hanif was working as a preacher in various places in Kerala. Ashfaque, who was continuously in touch with Hanif, made up his mind to join IS. Ashfaque and Abdullah Rashid, whose name is also mentioned in the FIR registered in Nagpada, went to join IS together. We will need custody of the other two accused, Rizwan Khan and Arshi Qureshi, who had been arrested by the Kerala ATS from Mumbai in July. Arshi is the main accused in the case, so his custody will help further the investigations.”