Arrest of Arif Majeed not an action to harass him: Government

Government on Saturday said arrest of Arif Majeed, who returned to Mumbai after disappearing in ISIS controlled areas in Iraq, was not an action to harass him, asserting that all such incidents will be taken on a case- by-case basis.

"Our intention is not to harass anybody. We will deal all this on a case-by-case basis," he said on the sidelines of a conference of police chiefs here. The Home Minister said interrogation of Arif is going on in Mumbai.

The youth from Mumbai suburb Kalyan, Arif, who until now was believed to have been killed while fighting for militant group ISIS in Syria, was arrested last night hours after he landed in the metropolis.

A case has been slapped against ISIS and its operatives under Section 125 of the IPC which deals with waging war against any Asiatic country which has friendly ties with India, entailing maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

In May this year, four youths from Kalyan - Shaheen Tanki, Fahad Shaikh and Aman Tandel, besides Arif - had left India to visit holy places in the West Asia, but they disappeared thereafter and since then were suspected to have joined the Sunni extremist group.

According to police, the four engineering students flew to Baghdad on May 23 as part of a group of 22 pilgrims to visit religious shrines in Iraq.

After Arif's return, he was interrogated by the National Investigation Agency and Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad.