RAISEN: Twelve persons were taken into custody by Intelligence officials for allegedly inciting religious sentiments and asking people to support international terror-mastermind Osama Bin Laden, police said on Sunday.
Raids were conducted in Bhopal last night at addresses given by five persons upon questioning, but no clues were found to link them with any terrorist outfit, Superintendent of Police K C Jain said adding teams have been dispatched to verify addresses given by them in other cities.
The accused were remanded to police remand till June 20, and some women associated with them were being interrogated by intelligence officers, he said.
Following a complaint by one Shahar Qazi Zahiruddin that around a dozen persons were preaching a "different version of Islam" at a house in Chopra Mohalla locality, 12 persons were arrested last night, while one managed to escape, they said.
Those arrested were identified as Saeed Ali and Akhtar Ali of Gwalior, Jamal Ahmed and Mohd Shakil (Delhi), Sheikh Javed, Mohd Haneef, Kaleem Khan and Adil Khan (Bhopal), Mohd Islam alias Gunjan Gupta of Bina, Ram alias Rahim (Raisen), Raees Ahmad of Dhulia in Masharashtra and Mohd Anees of Agra.
Teams were dispatched to Gwalior, Agra, Delhi, Bina and some places in Maharashtra to verify their addresses, he said.
Meanwhile, a delegation of Muslims submitted a memorandum to District Collector Sandeep Yadav seeking strict action against the accused as "they were spreading rumours about Islam".
Local residents claim the accused, while "preaching different version of Islam", were asking youths to follow the path of Laden and wage war against America.
