Mumbai: Man held for sending fake complaints naming PFI to police

The police reported the arrest of a 36-year-old man for allegedly making false complaints in which he claimed that members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) were planning to incite riots in Mumbai.

Afsar Khan alias MD Afsar, arrested a few days ago, has multiple criminal cases registered against him, said an official. His brother Akhtar is wanted in the case. Bhoiwada police station in the city recently received multiple complaints, sent by post, claiming that some 19 to 20 members of the banned outfit PFI were conspiring to engineer riots or communal violence in Mumbai, the official said.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad unit linked to Bhoiwada police station began a probe and found that all the letters had come through the Chembur post office. It nabbed a boy used for posting the complaints, the official said, adding that the boy disclosed Afsar’s name. In the meanwhile, the Mumbai crime branch which was conducting a parallel investigation arrested Afsar through technical surveillance.