Phulwari Sharif Case: 2 arrested in Bihar for PFI connection

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday arrested two persons from Bihar's Motihari district in connection with its ongoing probe into the Phulwari Sharif terror module case linked to the Popular Front of India (PFI) conspiracy. The arrests were made after the probe agency conducted raids at eight locations to disrupt a conspiracy hatched by PFI cadre to carry out targeted killings in East Champaran District in Bihar on Saturday.

The arrested persons were identified as Tanveer Raza alias Barkati and Md Abid alias Aryan, both residents of the East Champaran district. As per the NIA, the accused had arranged weapons and ammunition to carry out the targeted killings. "NIA has arrested two accused who had arranged weapons and ammunition to carry out the killing. Recce had already been conducted to execute a target," the NIA said in a statement.

"The arms and ammunition had been handed over to a PFI Trainer, Yakoob, who had been conducting Training Sessions for PFI cadres," the NIA added. A few days ago, Yakoob, the PFI trainer, had posted a derogatory and inflammatory Facebook video post, which was aimed at disturbing peace and communal harmony. Other users of Facebook had commented and trolled this post abusively. The absconding accused Yakoob and two arrested accused had identified some of them and had conspired to execute the killing of the targeted person.