A Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police, on Tuesday, arrested two members of the notorious Islamist organisation, Popular Front of India (PFI). The individuals had allegedly planned a series of attack in the country on Basant Panchami.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Ansad Badruddin and Firoz Khan. Both Baruddin and Khan originally hail from Kerala. Security forces also recovered large caches of explosives, detonators, weapons, and other incriminating documents from the accused.
Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Law and Order, Prashant Kumar told reporters, “Ansad Badruddin and Firoz Khan have been arrested from Kukrail trisection in Gudamba area here. With their arrest, the STF has foiled a series of terrorist attacks in various parts of the country on Basant Panchmi. A huge quantity of high-quality explosives has been recovered from them.”
During their interrogation, both would-be terrorists reportedly told the police that their main aim was to train physically strong men of a ‘particular community’, by brainwashing them and using them when needed.
However, the PFI, in a statement, condemned the arrest of its members and accused the UP government of creating a fake narrative. The PFI further claims that its members had gone to West Bengal and Bihar to undertake work related to the expansion of their organisation.
“On February 11, both of them boarded a train from Katihar, Bihar, to Mumbai. per their families, they last contacted them on the evening of February 11 after which they were not reachable on their phone. The family has filed a complaint at local police station in Kerala on February 16 morning. It was after filing the complaint by the family that the UP STF hurriedly called a press conference and presented this fabricated story of their arrest and the imaginary terror attacks,” PFI said.
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