Express News Service
LUCKNOW: Kanpur police, on Friday, constituted a six-member team to look into the presence and activities of Dawat- e- Islami, the Pakistan-based organization with which the links of one of the two Udaipur assailants have emerged.
According to Joint Commissioner of Kanpur Police, Anand Prakash Tewari, the team would investigate the activities of the outfit which was reportedly came into being in Kanpur in 1989 after the visit of a delegation of Ulemas from Pakistan. A per an estimate, the outfit has over 50,000 followers currently in Kanpur.
Dawat-e-Islami had come on police radar during the anti-CAA stir in 2019 and currently, it is under the scanner after one of the two murder accused — Ghaus Mohammad — was believed to be associated with it.
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The joint police commissioner said: “A six-member special team has been constituted for looking into the deeds of Dawat-e-Islami. The team is being headed by a senior IPS rank official. The details of the people and institutions associated with the organization are being collected. Action will be taken as per the evidence gathered during investigations.”
The investigation team has been formed after the statement of Rajasthan Director General of Police ML Lather, in which he said that Dawat-e-Islami was also active in Kanpur, said police sources.
According to police sources, Rajasthan Police had got the clues about some members of the organization having set up its sleeping modules in Kanpur. However, those members had no criminal history and no mention in police records but they were the radicalized elements mobilized by the outfit for Jihad.
“The six member team has started gathering all the information about the membership, activities and the office of the organization at Deputy Padav crossing near Gurbat-Ullah Park. The police sources added that the probe team had also collected vital inputs about four madrassas associated with the organization. The sources claimed that of the four madrassas being run by the organization, one was in Kanpur and other three in Unnao.
“Of those present in Unnao, two madrassas are operational while one is under construction. The team has done an extensive investigation of all the places on Thursday and Friday,” said a senior police official of Kanpur.
