On July 16, Patna Police arrested a member of the Popular Front of India (PFI) identified as Margoob Ahmad Danish alias Tahir from Munir Colony at Saguna More under the Rupaspur Police station area. As per the Police, he has connections with the terrorists from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Yemen, and Gulf countries. Notably, Phulwari Sharif, which is located on the outskirts of Patna, has a sizeable Muslim population. There are several madrasas and old mosques.
Margoob had studied in a Madarsa in the Phulwari Sharif area. Later, he went to Dubai and stayed there for 12 years. After returning from Dubai, he started teaching Quran to local youth. He was a member of a WhatsApp group named ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ and used the Pakistani flag on the map of India as its icon. The FIR registered against Margoob read, “This group provides information about Ghazwa-E Hind, the persecution of all Muslims and also gives information about all the special events in the world.”
Furthermore, this anti-India WhatsApp group was started in Pakistan with a Pakistani handler. The members of this group were from Pakistan, Yemen, and other Islamic countries. In the group, the members regularly shared acts of Islamic terrorism and glorified the terrorists. They provoked young members of the group to establish an Islamic nation in India.
One of the messages in the group read, “I urge the Muslims of Bangladesh to prepare for the conquest of India.” They also urged the members of the Muslim community not to observe Hindu traditions and culture. A call for boycotting Indian products was also made. Interestingly, the group also talked against AIMIM and urged the young Muslims not to support the political party.
Margoob was active on different social media platforms. He created three groups on WhatsApp to spread Islamic propaganda. In one of the groups, there were 181 members, while the other two had 10 and 11 members, respectively. Margoob has over 2,000 followers on Facebook, and he actively posts anti-India material on the social media platform.
In one of the posts, he wrote, “India will finish. The name of my Nabi will rule everywhere. Insha Allah, Insha Allah.” He also used to share anti-India and Jihadi posts from others. He was a member of the ‘India will finish’ movement on social media platforms.
While searching his social media accounts and gadgets, Police found that he had posted anti-India posts on June 12 he had posted urging his followers to ‘Boycott India.’ In that post, he had used an image of the Indian National Flag with a cross over it. He had urged the followers to boycott Indian products and show their love for ‘Nabi.’
The Police also noticed a Pakistani number saved as ‘Markhob’ on his mobile. The Police are investigating if the owner of the number is operating from Pakistan or if someone from India is using it.
Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manavjeet Singh Dhillon said, “Videos from Kashmir terrorism and those from civil unrest in countries, including Syria, as well as videos of purported suppression of minorities were posted in the WhatsApp group with the aim to instigate people. Most numbers associated with the WhatsApp group were using pseudo or fake names, the investigation to identify them will go on. We will take the help of sister security agencies to probe the terror funding angle.”
Multiple training centres for Islamists
A Dainik Bhaskar report suggests that the accused have told the Police that PFI has opened offices in 12 districts in the state. The raids at these places are underway. Athar and Armaan, who were arrested recently, revealed the details of PFI’s plan to train the Muslim youth on how to use weapons. The Police have formed eight teams to investigate the sleeper cell modules. On Sunday, Police raided different locations, including Patna, Muzaffarpur, Purnia, East Champaran, Motihari, Saran, Darbhanga, and others.
