PM visit on July 12 was target, suspects have links with PFI, say police
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bihar on July 12 was ostensibly the target of a terror module busted by the State police on Thursday.
Modi visited Patna on July 12 to attend a function organised on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of the Bihar Assembly as part of which he unveiled a commemorative pillar, planted a sapling of “Kalpataru” tree, and laid foundation stones of a guest house and a library.
The Bihar Police has claimed to have busted the “potential terror module indulging in anti-India activities” by arresting two suspects, including a retired Jharkhand police officer, with alleged links to radical outfit Popular Front of India (PFI). The duo was arrested in the Phulwari Sharif area of Patna late on Wednesday.
A case was registered in Patna, two people were arrested and the probe is underway. Posters, banners, the PFI documents and mobile phones were recovered during the searches. Others in the case will also be arrested. The police are working on all the dimensions of the case, according to ADG (HQ) Patna, JS Gangwar.
An FIR has been registered against 26 people. The training of suspected terrorists had also started in Phulwari Sharif 15 days before PM Modi’s visit. As soon as the information was received, the police raided and arrested two people.
Patna police said it keeps an eye on institutions like the PFI and was on constant alert ahead of the PM’s visit. The police worked on the leads and and an FIR was filed against 26 persons. However, there was no direct threat to the PM, said the police. The probe so far has revealed that for the past two months, the accused had hosted people visiting Patna from other States.
“The arrested persons have been identified as Mohammad Jallauddin, a retired Jharkhand police officer, and Athar Parvez. They have links with the PFI. Jallauddin was earlier associated with Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI),” Phulwari Sharif Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Manish Kumar said.
“They were teaching locals how to use swords and knives and also instigating them for communal violence. An investigation has revealed that people from other States were visiting them in Patna. Those visitors used to change their names while staying in hotels in the Bihar Capital to conceal their identities,” he said.