On 29 September, around 5 pm, three officers in plain clothes arrived at the house of Abdullah Saood Ansari in summoning him to the police station for “chit-chat”.
When they came out, about 50 police personnel, stationed outside, spared no time to enter the house to begin their raid.
Ansari’s sister Nausheen kept asking the officers about what was happening. But none bothered to answer her. It was only later Nausheen got to know that her house was raided in connection with the ban imposed by the Indian Union government on the Popular Front of India and its affiliated groups for alleged “terror links”.
Days leading up to the declaration of the ban, many leaders and activists associated with PFI were arrested across India. All the members of its National Executive Committee were booked under UAPA by the National Investigation Agency.
Ansari was suspected of being a member of PFI and indulging in “unlawful activities”.
The 28-year-old computer science graduate was arrested the next day the ban got imposed and the group was disbanded.
Several human rights defenders and opposition parties have objected to the five-year ban on the Muslim outfit, imposed by the Hindu nationalist regime.
Speaking to Maktoob, Nousheen says the raid was a horrific experience.”They didn’t even spare small items in the house. They broke everything.”
Police allegedly took Ansari’s younger brother’s phone and added it to the evidence recovered from Ansari. Two mobile phones, a file of documents and a laptop were seized by the police, according to Police dairy.
Nousheen also refutes all terror-related allegations against her brother and maintains he is innocent.
The 24-year-old B.Ed student speculates that her brother’s arrest has something to do with a complaint her brother submitted against Lohta police to Uttar Pradesh Human Rights Commission for unlawful detention.
“They recovered the copy of the complaint and heckled him over it in the station. He was told he will pay for his action”.
Case against Saood
Ansari was taken to Lohta police station where he was officially arrested the next day, 30 September 2022 at 4:33 pm under India’s terror law, Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act.
FIR no 0299 is registered under the Section 153-A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 153-B (Assertions prejudicial to national integration) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 7, 8 and 13 of UAPA.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here