The National Investigation Agency (NIA), in a joint operation with the Bihar police, conducted an extensive raid in the Kuwa village under the Chakia police station in Motihari, Bihar, late on Friday (February 3) night and took eight people including three PFI members into custody.
Notably, this is the same area through which two Shaligram stones- symbolising Lord Vishnu in the Hindu religion- on Thursday reached Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya after a long journey on heavy-duty trucks from Nepal’s Janakpur.
The Motihari police took to Twitter on February 4, to share the news about the action taken by them jointly with the NIA. “3 PFI suspects have been picked up by NIA with the active help of Motihari police today morning from the Chakia subdivision area and detained for joint interrogation by Bihar police and central agencies. Further updates will follow,” the tweet read.
3 PFI suspects have been picked up by NIA with the active help of Motihari police today morning from Chakia subdivision area and detained for joint interrogation by Bihar police and central agencies.
— MOTIHARI POLICE (@motihari_police) February 4, 2023
Further updates will follow. #BiharPolice
Soon, several media houses reported the arrest and linked it to bomb blast threats received at the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya. Many Vernacular media houses like Navbharat Times, News Nation TV and Zee Hindustan reported that the arrest was made in connection with the bomb threat Ram Janmabhoomi received on Thursday morning. The reports said that one of the three PFI members arrested was Riyaz Maroof, who issued the bomb threat.
Link between the arrest of PFI members with the Ram Janmabhoomi bomb threat not yet established: Bihar police
Following the reports, the Motihari police again tweeted refuting the link between the reported arrest and the bomb threat. The police’s tweet in Hindi read, “certain media outlets and social media are connecting the NIA’s action this morning to arrest three PFI suspects in active coordination with the Motihari Police to the purported Ram Mandir bomb threat.”
कतिपय मीडिया चैनल्स और सोशल मीडिया पर आज सुबह एनआईए द्वारा मोतिहारी पुलिस के सक्रिय सहयोग से 3 पीएफआई संदिग्धों को संसीमित करने की कार्रवाई को कथित राम मंदिर उड़ाने की धमकी से संबंधित घटना से जोड़कर दिखाया जा रहा है। @bihar_police #Motihari 1/2 https://t.co/IM7BWiIsD9
— MOTIHARI POLICE (@motihari_police) February 4, 2023
“In this regard, it is clarified that the police have not confirmed this in their investigation thus far. The police are exercising their due diligence, and all pertinent details will be provided in due course,” the Motihari police said in its subsequent tweet.
Meanwhile, speaking about the arrest, Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters), JS Gangwar told the media, “Three suspected members of the PFI were picked up by the NIA with the active help of Bihar Police. They were detained for joint interrogation by the state police and the central agencies. More detentions cannot be ruled out.”
Chargesheet against PFI members
Earlier on Saturday (January 7), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet against four people in connection to a conspiracy case to disrupt the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Patna in July last year.
As per reports, those named in the chargesheet were members of the radical Islamist outfit Popular front of India (PFI). The four men were identified as Md Jalaluddin Khan, Noorduddin Zangi, Arman Malick (alias Imteyaz Anwer) and Athar Parvej.
According to a spokesperson of the central agency, the 4 accused were booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 121, 121A, 122, 153A and 153B and Sections 13, 17, 18, 18A, 18B and 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
Notably, PFI and its allied organisations were banned for five years by the Ministry of Home Affairs in September 2022 for having links with terrorist groups and engaging in subversive operations. It should be noted here that the NIA apprehended over 350 PFI members from various regions of the country last year.
Ram Janmabhoomi receives phone call threatening to blow it up
Notably, on Thursday morning, a person named Manoj Kumar received a phone call, in which the caller threatened that the Ram Mandir will be blown up with bombs. Manoj Kumar is a resident of the Ramlila Sadan in Ayodhya and is currently a resident in Prayagraj. Manoj said that at around 5 am on Thursday, he received a call from someone claiming to be from Delhi, who told him that the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple would be bombed in the next five hours by 10 am.
Manoj Kumar immediately informed the police about the threat, after which the police swung into action.
Ever since the beginning of the construction of the grand Ram Mandir started in Ayodhya, Islamist terror groups are threatening to blow it up to construct a mosque again on the site. Last month, Al Qaeda in its magazine Ghazwa-e-Hind said that it will one day blow up the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and build a mosque there. They added that this will require the sacrifice of Indian Muslims. The terror group also appealed to Indian Muslims to abandon their country and choose Islamic Jihad.
A plot of this kind incorporating the Ram Mandir is among the malicious goals of the banned group Popular Front of India (PFI). It intends to restore the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and convert all of India to Islam by the year 2047.
