In its latest verdict on the PFI-Phulwari Sharif Terror Module case, the Patna High Court refused anticipatory release to six accused people involved in the conspiracy to disrupt Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bihar in July 2022. Justice Vipul M Pancholi and Justice Ramesh Chand Malviya examined the evidence submitted by the investigative agency and concluded that there was a prima facie case against the appellants.
The accused sought anticipatory bail, claiming that they were wrongfully named as co-conspirators in the case. However, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) produced evidence revealing their role in developing criminal plans to disrupt communal peace and public order.
After reviewing all of the evidence presented to the Court, including retrieved documents and data from the accused people, the Court found that an attempt to thwart the Prime Minister’s visit had been planned. The Court recognised the gravity of the accused violations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and upheld the Special NIA Judge’s decision to deny the anticipatory bail application.
Background of the Phulwari Sharif Conspiracy Case
The case concerns the involvement of accused and suspected PFI members in illegal and anti-national actions who gathered in the Phulwari Sharif area of Patna, Bihar, and hatched a terror conspiracy to disrupt a political event expecting the arrival of PM Modi in the city in the year 2022.
The accused terrorist individuals associated with the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) had allegedly planned a plot to conduct anti-India activities and target the event expecting PM Modi in July 2022. The Bihar Police busted several terror modules where youth were getting trained to use arms and also confirmed the development and said that the terrorist organisation had planned to disturb the event in which PM Modi had participated on July 12, 2022. The police also said that it was a planned conspiracy and that the accused persons had been conducting and offering training to other individuals to conduct anti-India activities.
The case had been registered against 26 people in total and 5 of them were arrested on 20th July 2022. The arrested individuals included Md Jalaluddin and Athar Parvez who primarily had trained around 26 other people for creating violence at PM Modi’s event in Patna on July 12. Md Jalaluddin was a former police officer from Jharkhand while Parvez was a member of PFI and its political arm SDPI.
PFI was irked by ‘blasphemous’ remarks made by Nupur Sharma
The Police also recovered the relevant documents from the accused to discover that the PFI was hurt by the alleged ‘blasphemous’ statements made by ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and that they had made a plan to take revenge against the alleged remarks. Former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma had been accused of ‘blasphemy’ after she allegedly spoke against Prophet Muhammad in a live TV debate.
Irked by these alleged blasphemous remarks, the now-banned terrorist organisation, PFI had planned a conspiracy in Phulwari Sharif. The FIR registered in the matter also mentioned that the accused belonging to the terrorist organization had planned to disturb the event in which PM Modi had participated on July 12.
The conspiracy was eventually foiled by Bihar Police who further discovered during the inquiry that Parvez was in frequent contact with members of many foreign organisations and was seeking foreign funding to carry out anti-India operations in the country. Suspected terrorist training centers had also been operational in Phulwari Sharif 15 days before PM Modi’s visit. They held meetings on July 6 and 7, 2022, and used communally inciting speeches to instigate the Muslims.
‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ and ‘Direct Jihad’ WhatsApp groups were used to propagate anti-India activities
It was reported on 24th July 2022 that one of the accused persons arrested by the police in the case had received funds in the form of cryptocurrency from Qatar. Marguv Ahmad Danish, the accused in the Phulwari Sharif terror module case was also operating two WhatsApp groups named ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ and ‘Direct Jihad’ to propagate anti-India activities in the region.
The police then recovered one of the documents named ‘India Vision 2047’ that talked about ‘subjugating coward majority community’ and bringing back the glory of Islam to the country. “PFI is sure that even if 10% of whole Muslim population gather behind it, it will conquer frightened majority group and restore the glory,” the police read quoting an excerpt from the eight-page long document titled ‘India Vision 2047’.
According to the Police, the document further stated that in the event of a full-fledged conflict with the state, apart from relying on cadres, they would need help from their friendly Islamic countries. “In recent years, PFI has built cordial connections with Turkey, a flag-bearer of Islam,” the police official quoted statements from the document.
However, later the case was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after the orders from the Home Ministry. The NIA then investigated the case and arrested several Maulvies from the region who had been associated with PFI and offered controversial teachings to Muslim students. One such Maulvi was arrested by the NIA on 23rd July 2022, Asghar Ali from Dhaka Bazar of Motihari.
Accused Asghar Ali was a ‘teacher’ in the Jamia Maria Misawa Madrasa in Dhaka Bazar. The agency had also recovered a lot of Urdu books from him which he used to teach to his students. The PFI members had been accused of organizing illegal arms training and radicalization activities with the goal of waging a war against India.
NIA chargesheet and raids, ban on PFI
The NIA investigations found that the criminal conspiracy was formed with the goal of carrying out acts of terror and violence, creating a terror atmosphere, and jeopardizing the nation’s unity and integrity.
According to the NIA, the accused arranged for rented lodging in Ahmad Palace in Phulwari Sharif and used its premises to provide training in the conduct of acts of violence as well as to hold criminal conspiracy meetings. “The accused also collected funds, recruited members, organized training, and encouraged its members to establish Islamic Rule in India,” the anti-terror agency said.
On 7th January, this year, the NIA filed a charge sheet against the arrested accused in a special court in Patna under sections 121, 121A, 122, 153A, and 153B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as sections 13, 17, 18, 18A, 18B, and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
On 3rd August 2023, the NIA filed a supplementary chargesheet against four more accused. The supplementary chargesheet was also filed before the NIA Special Court in Patna against the accused identified as Md Tanweer alias Md Tanweer, Md Aabid, Md Belal, and Md Irshad Alam, who were involved in spreading the banned outfit’s ideology and plotting criminal activities by arranging weapons and ammunition.
As far as the latest updates in the case are concerned, the NIA has arrested around 16 individuals in the case. The center also as a part of the action, exercised a ban on the terrorist Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) in the year 2022. Multiple raids were conducted by the NIA in the case and the probe still continues with the case being underway.
