IS recruiter arrested from Kalyan; Kerala cops get transit remand

In a major swoop, an Islamic State (IS) recruiter was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra Police along with a special team of the Kerala Police.

The person, identified as Rizwan Khan, was arrested from Kalyan township in Thane district. He was picked up on Friday.

Khan was produced before a Magistrate court here, which granted his transit remand to the Kerala Police till July 25. He would later be produced at a court in Kerala. The arrest comes just a day after the Kerala Police and the Maharashtra ATS arrested Arshi Qureshi, accused of forcibly converting people to Islam. He was nabbed from his Navi Mumbai residence.

Qureshi was the guest relations officer of  Islamic Research Foundation headed by Dr Zakir Naik.

The Kerala Police are investigating the disappearance of 21 youths who are believed to have joined the IS. It is not yet known whether the two arrests, that of Khan and Qureshi, are linked.

Kalyan township was the first city in the country to come under the scanner of the intelligence agencies and the police, after it was found that four local youths had joined the IS.