Mohammad Ghaus Niazi, a terrorist of the banned Islamic organization Popular Front of India (PFI), has been arrested in South Africa. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has extradited him to India. Niazi is accused of killing a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader in Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka. The NIA has also declared a reward of five lakh rupees on him.
Mohammad Ghaus Niazi was a big face of PFI. He was allegedly involved in the murder of 35-year-old RSS leader Rudresh in Bengaluru in 2016. In this case, the investigating agencies have booked him as an accused. After committing the murder, he escaped and left India to form his base in different countries. The case is being probed by the NIA.
The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Gujarat Police first tracked Mohammad Ghaus Niazi in South Africa. After this, they gave this information to the central agency NIA. The NIA then contacted South Africa. The South African agency apprehended Mohammad Ghaus Niazi. He has now been extradited to India and is currently taken to Mumbai.
In 2016, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Rudresh was murdered in the Shivaji Nagar area of Bengaluru. Rudresh was returning after attending an RSS function in Bengaluru when he was killed. During that time, the terrorists already sitting in an ambush attacked him. He was killed in this attack.
Volunteers took to the streets after the RSS leader was hacked to death with a sharp weapon. After the incident, the then Karnataka BJP president BS Yeddyurappa met Rudresh’s family. He had assured that the matter would be investigated till the end. After 6 years of this murder, the NIA has succeeded in bringing terrorist Mohammad Ghaus Niazi to India.
In 2019, the NIA said that Asim Sharif, another accused in Rudresh’s murder, had conspired to kill Rudresh to prevent people from joining the Hindu organisation. He had planned to kill two more RSS workers. Apart from Asim Sharif, four other PFI leaders including Mohammad Ghaus Niazi were also involved in this murder.
Asim Sharif was the Bengaluru president of the Popular Front of India. Asim Sharif has already been charged for involvement in the murder in this case. Sharif challenged the NIA’s action in the Supreme Court on 2nd January 2018. However, the court had rejected his plea. This paved the way for prosecution on him.
In 2020, Samiuddin was detained by the Bengaluru Police in connection with the violence in a part of Bengaluru over an alleged comment made on a controversial Facebook post. The police official had then said that during the investigation, Samiuddin was found to be in touch with an accused in the RSS worker Rudresh murder case. Samiuddin has also been in touch with members of the Al-Hind terrorist group for the past few years.
