By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net
A day after UP Police arrested people from Bijnor for suspected ISIS links, a conversation with Bijnor SP Ajay Sahni revealed that more than 2,000 madrasas and mosques have been put under Police scanner.
All Islamic bodies which will be watched carefully by the police are said to be situated in Western Uttar Pradesh, mostly around Bijnor.
On April 20, Faizan and Tanveer were arrested around 5 AM, while they were coming out of the mosque situated in Badapur town of Bijnor. Around half a dozen people were arrested from different parts of Bijnor, whose identities and names have not been revealed yet, out of which five people have been let go and only Mohd. Faizan has been put under custody. Faizan is accused of modulating and brainwashing young Muslim boys and helping them join the Islamic State (IS).
Talking with TwoCircles.net, SP Bijnor Ajay Sahni said, “We are keeping religious bodies under a close scanner. Who comes there, who lives there and what is being preached there, we’re taking note of all the things.”
Ridiculing what’s being published in newspapers, Ajay Sahni said, “We never said ‘Madrasas’ nor ‘Mosques’. I was very clear from the start that we are keeping a close watch on religious bodies, be it a Mosque or Shrine.
Talking about the arrest of five people from the Bijnor, SP Sahni said, “We let go four out of five arrested. The fifth one, the Faizan, is a dangerous terrorist and is deployed to brainwash and recruit terrorists for IS. He is on transit remand and will be charged soon.”
“The other five did not commit any crime yet, but they were influenced by the ideologies of the Faizan, so we’re watching them so that they shouldn’t slip out”, said SP Sahni.
Moreover, the local sources from Bijnor inform that Police has issued a warning to those released to not to talk to media, otherwise they’ll have to face consequences.
SP Sahni denied this accusation and said, “We never say to anyone to talk or not to talk to anyone. This is a democracy and this is people’s discretion.”
However, he added, “But I know those families will not talk to anyone, including media. They are not in such state.”