A city court on Saturday extended Mumbai crime branch’s custody of Islamic preacher, Mohammad Haneef, till Tuesday.
A city court on Saturday extended Mumbai crime branch’s custody of Islamic preacher, Mohammad Haneef, till Tuesday.
A crime branch team picked up Haneef in Kerala last week, later bringing him to the city, and placing him under arrest for allegedly instigating a Nagpada youth named Ashfaque Kadar to join terror outfit, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), in Syria.
Ashfaque’s father, Abdul Majeed Kadar Khan (60), registered a complaint with Nagpada police and the probe was later handed over to the crime branch. Ashfaque, along with his wife and baby boy, left for Syria two months ago in June. Haneef allegedly influenced 12 more Kerala youth to join ISIS. According to a senior police official, Haneef was brought to the city in the night of August 13 and produced before a court, which remanded him to police custody till August 20. Haneef hails from Kambalakkad in Wayanad and was taken into custody at Panur in Kerala.
Crime branch officials informed the magistrate, “A police team went to Kerala for investigation and they are interrogating some people there and also investigating the mosque where the accused worked as a Salafi teacher.
They need his custody to verify certain things. He is not cooperating with the investigation as he does not know any other language except Malayalam. Hence, they need his custody.”
During Haneef’s first remand, he did not have a lawyer however his brother, who came all the way from Kerala, arranged for a lawyer for him. Haneef’s defence argued, “Haneef is just a normal preacher and does not have any link with ISIS. Seven days have passed but the police investigation has not gone ahead.”
Crime branch officials had earlier said that they were verifying a list of numbers found on Haneef’s mobile, which was seized at the time of his arrest in a joint operation with Kerala police last week.
Haneef (26) is accused of influencing youth from Kerala to join ISIS. Abdul Majeed, in his complaint registered with Nagpada police, told them that his son
Ashfaque had joined ISIS after being indoctrinated by Haneef, Arshi Qureshi and Rizwan Khan whom he had met in Kerala and in Mumbai over the past two years. Ashfaque went missing in June this year.
