Phulwari Sharif case: To probe alleged PFI-terror module links, NIA raids 30 locations in Bihar

New Delhi: The NIA has been conducting searches across 30 locations in Bihar since Thursday morning in connection with its probe into a suspected terror module allegedly linked to the Popular Front of India (PFI).Raids are being carried out at several locations in Chhapra, Araria, Aurangabad, Kishanganj, Nalanda and Jehanabad. Officials told News18 that PFI is allegedly running "arms training camps under the guise of martial arts training."In July, the Bihar Police have busted terror module and arrested three people. Mohammad Jalaluddin, a retired Jharkhand Police officer, and Athar Parvez were arrested on 13 July from the Phulwari Sharif area of Patna. Three days later, Nuruddin Jangi was arrested from Lucknow by Uttar Pradesh ATS, on the request of Bihar Police.After this, the Union Home Ministry had handed over the case to the National Investigating Agency (NIA).AFter the arrest of the trio, Phulwari Sharif Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Manish Kumar had said, "They have links with PFI. Jallauddin was earlier associated with Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)… 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."During the searches conducted earlier against Jallauddin and Parvez, the Bihar Police said that it had recovered two pamphlets written in English — ‘India 2047: Towards Rule of Islamic India’ and ‘Popular Front of India, 20 February, 2021’.Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had said that Nuruddin “confessed" during interrogation that he came in contact with the PFI Darbhanga district president in 2015 and has been associated with the organisation ever since.In July, the Enforcement Directorate had launched a money laundering probe into the case. It has been investigating PFI’s alleged "financial links" on charges of fuelling the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in the country, the February 2020 Delhi riots, the alleged conspiracy in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras case of alleged gangrape and death of a Dalit woman among few other instances.With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.