Ex-SIMI member accused of sedition held at Varanasi airport
When Faiz provided his passport for checking, the emigration officer found that he was a former member of Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and had been barred from leaving the country. An LOC had been issued against him in 2001.
A man, allegedly a former member of the banned organisation Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), was on Sunday arrested at Lal Bahadur Shastri international airport in Varanasi for hiding facts and trying to leave the country despite a lookout circular (LOC) against him, police said.
A senior police officer familiar with the matter said Mohammad Faiz, a resident of Khuda Daadpur village of Azamgarh, reached the airport to board a Sharjah-bound flight.
He said when Faiz provided his passport for checking, the emigration officer found that he was a former member of SIMI and had been barred from leaving the country. An LOC had been issued against him in 2001.
Emigration in-charge Kundan said, “Faiz was taken into custody by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and handed over to the Azamgarh police.”
Deputy inspector general of police Vijay Bhushan said during preliminary investigation, it came to the light that Faiz visited Saudi Arabia in 2015 and worked there as a tailor.
“He has a shop in Saudi Arabia. A probe has been ordered to find out as to how he managed to go to Saudi Arabia in 2015-16 despite a ban on his visits outside the country,” Bhushan said, adding that he would find as to why his passport was not seized despite an LOC against him.
“The superintendent of police (SP), Azamgarh, has been asked to carry out the probe and submit a report within a fortnight,” he added.
Bhushan said strict action would be taken if laxity on the part of any police official came to the fore.
Inspector at Nizamabad police station Yogendra Bahadur Singh said, “A case has been registered under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using a forged document as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 8 of the Notaries Act against Faiz for forgery and hiding facts about a sedition case registered against him in 2001.”
A case was registered against Faiz in 2001 under sections 153 (intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity), 153 B (imputations, assertions, prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) of the IPC against him.