The Meerut police arrested eight people, including Armaan, the brother of YouTuber and former Indian Idol contestant Farmani Naaz, and claimed that the family runs an iron theft syndicate. They have launched a manhunt for the father and brother-in-law of the singer.
Farmani Naaz, who was in the limelight for the rendition of Abhilipsa Panda’s song ‘Har Har Shambhu’, has once again hit the headlines. She is a resident of Mohammed Lohadda in Muzaffarnagar from where her family was allegedly running the illicit business.
According to reports, the Meerut police on Monday arrested eight members of the alleged gang, including Farmani Naaz’s brother Armaan, and were on the lookout for her father Arif and brother-in-law Irshad, who have been absconding since the racket has been busted.
The Meerut police took to Twitter to share the news. As per reports, the syndicate was being operated by Farmani Naaz’s brother, father and brother-in-law besides others. The police recovered two quintals of iron rods from the spot and also seized the vehicle used for the theft.
According to SSP Rohit Singh Sajwan, the gang had looted iron rods from an under-construction site in Teharki village in Palwal, Haryana, a month ago by holding the watchman hostage. They had also stolen the watchman’s phone. When the Sardhana police started an investigation into the incident, some people’s names came to light.
Sajwan said the police learnt that the gang was planning to commit another robbery in Khirwa Jalalpur. The police reached the spot and nabbed Anuj, Monu, Shakir, Irshad, Shahrukh, and Armaan, all residents of Teharki village Sardhana and Mohammadpur Lohadda Muzaffarnagar.
The police claimed that Armaan and Irshad led the group while Arif provided the weapons.
Farmani Naaz, who has 4.49 million subscribers on her YouTube channel, became popular after appearing on the singing reality show Indian Idol in its 12th season. On the show, Farmani had claimed that her husband left her after their son was born with a throat problem in 2019.
Since then, she has been singing songs while her brother Armaan works as a labourer for a living.
On July 22, her ‘Har Har Shambhu’ rendition landed her in trouble with Muslim clerics in Deoband raising an objection. Maulana Mufti Asad Qasmi from Deoband had said that singing and dancing of any sort was not permissible in Islam.
“This is forbidden in Islam. Muslims should refrain from anything that is forbidden. The song sung by the woman (Farmani Naaz) is not permissible, it is forbidden. She should refrain from it,” the cleric had said.