IIT student arrested under UAPA told family he won’t study, had other plans: Father
Guwahati, April 2
The father of the arrested IIT-Guwahati student, who had allegedly pledged allegiance to terror group ISIS, on Tuesday said his son had spoken to his family members in Delhi that he would not continue with his studies and had other plans.
The accused, Touseef Ali Farouqui, a fourth-year BTech student of the bioscience department was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on March 24. He is now in the police custody.
“I live in Siwan in Bihar but he was with my wife in Delhi. My son had told her about not continuing with his studies as he had other plans,” student’s father Asmat Ali Farouqui told reporters outside a court where his son was brought.
He will be produced in the court on Wednesday when his police remand ends.
“Definitely, there was something that his mother knew about but kept hidden from others,” he added.
The student’s father claimed that the police did not allow him to talk to his son during the day. His father did not say anything about what transpired during the meeting.
The senior Farouqui denied speculations that he is separated with his wife and said he lived in Bihar to look after his agricultural land.
The accused was detained on March 23 at Hajo in the Kamrup district and got arrested the next day. He was booked under relevant sections of the IPC and UAPA.
The Assam Police’s Special Task Force (STF) Inspector General Parthasarathi Mahanta had earlier said that after interrogating him, police found credible evidence of his links with ISIS and he was arrested.
The student was detained three days after the ISIS India head Haris Farooqi alias Harish Ajmal Farukhi and his associate Anurag Singh alias Rehan were arrested in the Dhubri district after they had crossed over from Bangladesh.
STF Additional Superintendent of Police Kalyan Kumar Pathak had told reporters that the student had sent an email, in which he claimed that he was about to join ISIS.
A black flag, “apparently similar to that of ISIS”, was found in his hostel room and has been sent for verification to specialised agencies which deal with proscribed outfits.