The Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Monday registered an FIR under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in connection with the Mumbai link to the disappearance of over 20 youth from Kerala. The youth are suspected to have joined terrorist outfit Islamic State.
Among those booked by the Crime Branch are Arshid Qureshi, who is connected to controversial preacher Dr. Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), and Kalyan native Rizwan Khan. Both were arrested by the Kerala police earlier this year.
Crime Branch sources said the FIR was registered based on a complaint by the family of Ashfaq Majeed, a Kerala native who has relatives in Mumbai and used to visit the city frequently.
Joint Commissioner of Police Sanjay Saxena told The Hindu , “We have registered an FIR after the family of one of the missing youths approached us with a complaint that he had frequently seen his son in the company of Qureshi and Khan. The family has also named two others, one of whom is also missing along with other youths from Kerala. The other is yet to be identified, as the family does not know his name.”
Officials said the four were booked as Majeed’s family alleged that they were responsible for radicalising him and motivating him to join the IS. Qureshi and Khan were arrested in a joint operation of the Kerala police and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in July this year in connection with the disappearance of the Kerala youths.
Qureshi first came under the scanner after investigating agencies learned that he was instrumental in the alleged conversion of Merin Jacob alias Miriam, who was forced to convert by her husband Bestin Vincent alias Yahya, himself a convert to Islam. Qureshi’s interrogation allegedly revealed that the conversion and a subsequent nikah between Miriam and Yahya was conducted by Khan.
The FIR was registered based on a complaint by the family of Ashfaq Majeed, a Kerala native who has relatives in Mumbai
