Suspected ISIS Recruiter Arshid Qureshi, Allegedly Linked To Zakir Naik, Arrested

Mumbai: Arshid Qureshi, a suspected ISIS recruiter allegedly linked to controversial preacher Zakir Naik's foundation, was arrested in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday.

Arshid is alleged to have brainwashed youngsters in Kerala and influenced them to join the ISIS. He is believed to have been working with Zakir Naik's Islamic Research Foundation as a Public Relations Officer since 2004 and was drawing a salary of Rs 44,000, police sources say.

A case was registered against him in Kerala last month after parents of one of the 15 youngsters, who went missing and were suspected to have joined the ISIS, alleged that he played a key part in their recruitment.

He was arrested on Wednesday night in a joint operation by the anti-terror squad and Kerala police. He has been remanded to four days police custody.

Mumbai-based Zakir Naik is the subject of multiple inquiries in India over allegedly incendiary speeches. He is currently in Saudi Arabia and has said he will not return to India this year.

In a Skype press conference last week, he said "I am not running away". He said that it was always his intent to spend most of this year abroad, and insisted that so far, no Indian official or agency has contacted him with queries.

Bangladesh has accused the 50-year-old doctor of inspiring the young men who killed 20 hostages at a Dhaka cafe earlier this month.

Both the Centre and the Maharashtra government have launched investigations to determine whether his speeches, streamed online and aired on a television channel, urge or justify acts of terror. Peace TV broadcasts out of Dubai and is banned in India. After the Dhaka attack, the government has moved to crackdown on cable operators who continue to make it available.