3 detained in NIA raids at Jamshedpur, Bokaro

JAMSHEDPUR/BOKARO: Teams of NIA sleuths conducted simultaneous raids in Jamshedpur and Bokaro throughout Monday. While it detained three youths for questioning his alleged links with a terror outfit in Jamshedpur, it quizzed as many men in Chandankyari block in Bokaro and seized two mobile phones from them.

In Jamshedpur, the sleuths were interrogating Mohammad Shahbaz alias Guddu, a resident of Islamnagar under Jugsalai police station limits, at the circuit house in Bistupur. The sleuths arrived at Shahbaz's home around 3 am accompanied by local police. Mohammad Aftab Pathan, a resident of Gaurishankar Road under Jugsalai police station, was also detained.

"They arrived at our home around 3 am in 10 jeeps. There were officers in plain clothes and 20 policemen in uniforms," Aftab's wife told TOI.

Mobile phones, passports, and bank documents were seized from the duo. Aftab was released after 12 hours of questioning in the evening. "The officials asked about the people who are in my contact list. They enquired which organisation I am associated with. They also wanted the details of my family members," Aftab said.

Aftab, an autorickshaw driver, is in his twenties. He is tech savvy and worked as a billing staff at a prominent shopping mall in the city before moving to Dubai for a year where he worked as a manager at a textile company.

Shahbaz, also in his twenties, works as a field engineer and installs towers for a private telecom company.

That apart, the NIA is also learnt to have detained two men from Azadnagar and Mango areas of the city around the same time. However, their identities were not disclosed till late in the evening. While NIA sleuths and the local police remained tightlipped, sources said Shahbaz is being suspected of having links with ISIS.

Meanwhile, another NIA team raided Sutribeda in Chandankyari block in Bokaro and interrogated Azhar Ali and Hafiz Asghar. Ali and Asghar were questioned for three hours. While no arrests were made, two mobile phones were confiscated in the raids.

"An NIA team visited Chandankyari but nothing more can be revealed at this point in time," Bokaro SP Priyadarshi Alok said.