Haneef Mohammed, the preacher from Kerala arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch for allegedly radicalising nearly 21 youths including a city-based businessman’s son to join the Islamic State (IS), allegedly indoctrinated youths in a Salafist mosque in Kerala, police sources said.

After being detained in Peringathur in Kerala, Haneef was brought to the city on Sunday and produced in a holiday court that remanded him in police custody till August 20. He was booked under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, and the Indian Penal Code by the police along with Arshid Qureshi alias Arshi, the Islamic Research Foundation’s (IRF) guest representative officer and Abdul Rashid Abdulla, also linked to IRF and believed to have escaped the country to join IS. They are booked on the complaint of city businessman Abdul Majid Abdul Kader, whose son Ashfaq (25) fled the country with his wife and 18-month-old daughter on June 2 to join IS.