10, Jan 2016

Fifty-year-old Qasmi has in the past emerged on the fringes of two terrorism investigations. He was booked in 2012 in Bengaluru for making and selling recordings of speeches that incited communal hatred.
Written by Johnson TA
Bengaluru Updated: Jan 10, 2016, 7:39
Islamic preacher Maulana Anzar Shah Qasmi, who has been arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell for his alleged links to an Al Qaeda Indian Subcontinent module that is under investigation, has been known for several years to be a radical who has gathered a steady following, his “rabid bayans” causing unease among security agencies.
Fifty-year-old Qasmi has in the past emerged on the fringes of two terrorism investigations. He was booked in 2012 in Bengaluru for making and selling recordings of speeches that incited communal hatred. But he was never arrested.
A polarising force among Muslims themselves, Qasmi has been hailed by his followers as one who speaks the truth and denounced as an enemy of Muslims by detractors — all of whom have had easy access to his speeches through an online website named after Qasmi himself.