Suspected HuJI operative arrested under Foreigners Act

The Bihar Police formally arrested suspected HuJI man Riyazul Sarkar under Foreigners Act on Monday. He was produced before a local court and remanded to judicial custody. Riyazul was picked up on Saturday evening from Barchaundhi village under Mahuakhali police station,45 km from Kisanganj town. Mahtab Alam,who had rented a portion of his house to Riyazul,was also arrested for harbouring a foreigner.

Kisanganj Superintendent of Police Ranjeet Kumar Mishra said that though Riyazul’s identity as a HuJI man and possible links to July 13 Mumbai blasts have not been established as yet,his three mobile SIM cards had hundreds of contact numbers from outside Bihar and Jharkhand. “We have forwarded phone number details to authorities concerned to know more about the suspect. At this stage,it is too early to say anything conclusively about the suspect,who had been staying in Kisanganj village for about a month,” said Mishra.

He confirmed burn marks on both hands of the accused,as reportedly pointed out by villagers. “It looks like burn marks caused by cigarettes or cigars. It may be torture marks or some identification marks,” said Mishra.

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The SP corroborated villagers’ version about Riyazul leaving the village for a few days. He was missing from the area when the Mumbai terror attack took place.

“Sarkar claims to be an Indian and that he had stayed in Bangalore. We verified the addresses he gave us and found the details wrong. One thing we can say is that Sarkar is not an Indian,” Mishra said.