Muslim preacher arrested in Chennai for links with Hizb-Ut-Tahrir
A police team had been keeping track of Settu for the past few weeks after receiving a tip-off about his activities and conducted searches at his house on Thursday, in which ‘objectionable’ literature and a weapon were found.
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CHENNAI: The city police on Thursday arrested Abdul Rahim alias Settu (32), a religious preacher from Tondiarpet, for alleged links with Hizb-Ut-Tahrir (HuT), a Muslim fundamentalist outfit, trying to establish a global caliphate.
A police team had been keeping track of Settu for the past few weeks after receiving a tip-off about his activities and conducted searches at his house on Thursday, in which ‘objectionable’ literature and a weapon were found.
Investigations revealed that Settu was radicalised a few months ago and has been actively preaching the idea of a global caliphate. Further, he had also been preaching his ideologies at a mosque near his residence where he was also the Imam. He had got into crosshairs with the members of the mosque after which he was removed from the job.
Police sources said that Settu was also against the members of the local mosque who supported the Vinayakar Chaturthi procession, and was working against them.
A police search at his residence led to the seizure of 17 published works including books about the Caliphate, Sixty Sultaniyya (books about Islamic ruling system) among others. They also seized a machete from his residence.
RK Nagar Police booked Settu under sections 113 (action to threaten unity, sovereignty and security of India), 192 (provocation with intention to incite a riot), 353 (1) (b) (causing alarm which maybe induced to create offense against state), 196 (1) (a) (promoting enmity between groups based on religion) of the BNS and the Indian Arms act. The case is likely to be taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
In May, the city police had arrested six persons, including three from the same family, for being members of HuT, an international Islamic fundamentalist political organisation, aiming for the re-establishment of a Caliphate ruled by the Sharia system.
It was founded 70 years ago, around 30 years after the last Caliphate was liquidated along with the Ottoman Empire in 1924 following World War I and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk came to power.
