NIA Gets Banned PFI Accused Sheikh Ilyas's Custody

Sheikh Ilyas Ahmed surrendered at Nampally court in Hyderabad on January 29 and then he was initially sent to Chanchalguda jail.

Hyderabad:The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday took Sheikh Ilyas Ahmed, an accused linked to the banned terrorist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI), into five-day custody, officials said.

Ahmed surrendered at Nampally court located in Hyderabad on January 29 and was initially sent to Chanchalguda jail. Following the NIA court’s approval for custodial interrogation, Ahmed was further handed over to the investigation officials, NIA officials said.

According to NIA officials, further investigations into his alleged involvement with PFI are underway. Prior to this, the NIA planned to take into custody Mohammed Abdul Ahad, a key member of the banned PFI, who surrendered in a court after being in hiding for two-and-a-half years. A case was registered against Ahad, a resident of Autonagar near Malapalli in the Nizamabad district in Telangana and 28 others in July 2022.

The charges against Ahad, and Abdul Qadir, a key leader of PFI, include preparing local youth as anti-social elements under the guise of self-defence education and conspiring to incite riots. It is learned that the Popular Front of India (PFI) is an Islamist political organisation in India involved in a radical and exclusivist style of Muslim minority politics. The organisation has often been accused of being linked to anti-national and anti-social activities by the Centre.

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