Madrasa teacher held by NIA in E Champaran

The room in which Asghar Ali lived in the mosque is said to have been allocated in the name of the imam of the mosque, Maulana Nesar Ahmed.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a madrasa teacher from Bihar’s East Champaran district late Tuesday evening for his alleged involvement in anti-national activities, police said on Wednesday.

The teacher was arrested for his alleged involvement in anti-national activities, police said . (Picture for representation)

East Champaran’s superintendent of police (SP), Dr Kumar Ashish said the teacher, identified as Asghar Ali (in 30s), who was attached with Jamiya Maria Nishwan Madarasa at Kedarnagar in Sikrahana subdivision, was wanted in an old terror case in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). “A joint team of NIA officials from Lucknow, Bhopal and Delhi made the arrest,” he said, without elaborating further.

Sikrahana’s subdivisional magistrate (SDM) Iftekhar Ahmad said a few others were also picked up for interrogation but let off later.

NIA also seized Ali’s laptop. The room in which Ali lived in the mosque is said to have been allocated in the name of the imam of the mosque, Maulana Nesar Ahmed.

Ali, a resident of Sishwaniya, studied in Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and later pursued his higher education Maulvi (intermediate) in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, where he allegedly came in contact with an organization called Jamaat ud Mujahideen of Bangladesh, known for anti-India activities.

Ali has been working as a teacher at Jamia Maria Nishwan Madrasa for the past two years .