The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday arrested two persons from Bihar in connection with a case related to the busting of a suspected terror module in the Phulwari Sharif area of Patna, an official said.

According to an official, the NIA conducted search operations at eight locations, following which two persons, identified as — Tanveer Raza a.k.a. Barkati and Mohammed Abid a.k.a. Aryan, were arrested.

Earlier, several persons were arrested and incriminating articles and documents related to the banned organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) were seized.

“The raids were conducted in Bihar’s East Champaran district on Saturday while the two persons were arrested on Sunday. We have learnt that they had hatched a conspiracy to carry out targeted killings. The arrested individuals had arranged weapons and ammunition to carry out the killings. A recce was also conducted,” an NIA official said, adding multiple digital devices were also seized during the raids.

“The arms and ammunition had been handed over to a PFI trainer, Yakoob, who had been conducting training sessions for PFI cadres. A few days ago, Yakoob had posted a derogatory and inflammatory Facebook video, which was aimed at disturbing peace and communal harmony. Yakoob is currently on the run,” the official said.

The case pertains to involvement of PFI and its members in “unlawful activities”. The PFI members were suspected to have assembled to discuss their plans in the Phulwari Sharif area of Patna.

The case was initially registered at Bihar’s Phulwari Sharif police station on July 12, 2022, and later on, the probe into the matter was taken over by the NIA.

(This article has been published via a syndicated feed)