Former Bihar chief of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), Mahmood Alam Nadvi, was arrested on Friday from Kishanganj district, just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Purnea on September 15.
Officials said Nadvi, 39, had been working as a teacher in a private school near the India-Bangladesh border. They said he had fled to Oman in 2022 after the Anti-Terrorism Squad uncovered a PFI training camp in Patna’s Phulwarisharif area.
Authorities said he maintained contact with ISIS and Boko Haram during that time, before quietly returning to Bihar in March this year.
A senior police officer said that Nadvi had been hiding in Kishanganj since his return. On Thursday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided one of his hideouts in Mohuddinpur, Kishanganj, and seized what officials described as “objectionable documents.”
Originally from Vanshitola village in Katihar district, Nadvi had been evading arrest for three years. His capture is being described by state and central agencies as a “significant breakthrough,” especially given the heightened security along the India-Nepal and India-Bangladesh borders ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit.
“Nadvi’s interrogation will shed more light on terror links within Bihar and beyond,” a senior IPS officer said. Another ATS official added, “Efforts are on to gather information about the network of banned outfits in the state.”
The Union Home Ministry banned PFI in 2022, calling its activities anti-national. Authorities said that the group had established a ‘jihadi squad’ at its Phulwarisharif camp and expanded its network across Bihar’s Seemanchal region, which includes Kishanganj, Purnea, Araria and Katihar.
Nadvi, who was made Bihar incharge of the outfit in 2016–17, is believed to have played a key role in strengthening its presence in the state.
