Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS), in a joint operation with Kerala Police arrested an alleged member of Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation from Navi Mumbai. He is accused of radicalising a Palakkad-based woman. DCP, ATS, Dhananjay Kulkarni, said the accused, Arshi Qureshi was produced before a special court in Sewri that granted transit remand to the Kerala Police.
Qureshi has been named as an accused in an Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case registered by the Kerala Police last week. The UAPA case follows a missing person’s complaint registered by the family of Merin alias Mariyam at the Palarivattom police station in Kerala. In the complaint, the family has alleged that Mariyam, a Christian who converted to Islam, was radicalised by her husband Yahiya and Qureshi and forced to join the Islamic State.
Mariyam, a BPO employee who moved to Navi Mumbai last year, married Yahiya in Mumbai. She was then reportedly radicalised by the two men. Mariyam is one of the 21 people reported missing from Kerala. The police suspect that they have pledged their allegiance to the IS.