Sleuths of National Investigating Agency (NIA) picked up seven Kashmiri residents studying in Jamia Arabia seminary in Hathaura area of Banda district. 

All seven were taken to New Delhi for further interrogation in order to extract information about their connections with militant groups and examine their direct or indirect link with subversive forces. Interestingly, the NIA has not so far gone public with their arrest of detention. 

“The NIA is investigating a terror ring which it had cracked in December 2017 and arrested a seminary student Tauseef Malik in Kashmir. Tauseef was a third year student at the seminary and lived in its Darul Taleem hostel,” sources said. 

As per reports, a NIA team reached the seminary on Wednesday evening and picked up seven Kashmiri youths undergoing Arabia education for interrogation. 

Convener of the seminary, Habeeb Ahmed’s brother Maulana Mufti Nazeeb disclosed to local media persons that the NIA team reached the madarsa on Wednesdayafternoon and grilled the students in a closed room for several hours. 

While leaving in the evening, the NIA team took seven students hailing from Kashmir. However, the agency did not officially confirm or deny about the detention or arrest claimining that all will be released after quizzing. 

Sources said that three months back, the NIA team reached the madarsa and enquired about another Kashmiri youth Tauseef Malik, who had already completed education from the madarsa and left it. On March 9, the NIA team again came for a probe but left after few hours. 

Now, after Tauseef was recently arrested by NIA from Kashmir, the team again came to Banda to further examine the role of some other Kashmiri students in subversive activities. 

Muhfti Najeeb claimed that they along with the students extended all co-operation to the NIA team to carry out their investigation. 

Jamia Arabia with 15,000 students, is one of the leading seminaries of the state and was established in 1933. Sources said that the raid caused anger among the students, who held a protest. Sources added that the NIA was developing information about some people who have studied at the seminary.