Abdul Rehman Katki | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mohammad Abdul Rehman Ali Khan c. 1978 Paschimkachha, Cuttack district, Odisha, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Other names | Maulana Abdul Rehman, Abdur Rahman Katki |
| Education | Fazilat (Alim degree), Darul Uloom Deoband |
| Occupation(s) | Islamic cleric, madrasa teacher |
| Organization(s) | Jamia Ashraful Uloom, Bilteruan (Tangi) |
| Known for | Arrested in 2015 in connection with alleged AQIS links; convicted under UAPA in 2023 (Delhi case) and acquitted in a separate 2025 Jharkhand case |
| Criminal charge | Offences under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act |
| Criminal status | Convicted in Delhi (2023); acquitted in Jharkhand (2025) |
Abdul Rehman Katki (also written as Maulana Abdul Rehman or Abdur Rahman Katki; born c. 1978) is an Indian Islamic cleric from Cuttack, Odisha. He was arrested in December 2015 and later convicted under the UAPA by a Delhi special court in February 2023. Separately, in a case registered in Jharkhand in 2016, he was acquitted by a Jamshedpur court on 28 February 2025. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Abdul Rehman Katki was born in Paschimkachha village under Jagatpur police station in Cuttack district, Odisha. [6] He studied at Jamia Ashraful Uloom madrasa in Kendrapara between 1990 and 1995 before joining Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, where he completed the Dars-e-Nizami course (Fazilat). [7] [8] He later established the Jamia Ashraful Uloom madrasa at Bilteruan village in Tangi, Cuttack district. [9]
On 16 December 2015, Katki was arrested from his residence in Paschimkachha by the Delhi Police (Special Cell), with assistance from the Odisha Police. [1] [2] [3] [10] [11] [12]
According to contemporaneous reports, Rehman was 37 years old at the time of arrest and was being investigated for allegedly acting as a facilitator and recruiter for Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent (AQIS). Police said that electronic devices and his passport were seized during the search. [13]
According to police statements and subsequent investigative filings, he was alleged to have links with AQIS and to have been involved in recruitment of youths from Odisha and neighbouring states; investigators reported foreign travel and certain foreign-origin bank transactions that were examined during the probe. [1] [14] [15] [16]
Following the arrest, the Odisha government ordered increased scrutiny of madrasas in the state and inquiries into the source of funding of institutions associated with Katki's activities. [17]
Shortly after the arrest, the district administration closed the unregistered madrasa run by Katki at Tangi near Cuttack and sent 71 students, mostly from Jharkhand, back to their guardians. Police sealed the premises and detained two teachers for questioning, while investigators examined his bank accounts and the leased property records. [18]
International coverage of the arrests also appeared in global media; a Time report on 18 December 2015 described the detentions of suspected members of an alleged Indian al-Qaeda cell, including Katki, following coordinated operations by Delhi and Odisha Police. [19]
Local residents described Katki as a religious teacher and expressed surprise at the allegations. [7] The Jamiat-Ulama-i-Odisha (M) issued a statement condemning terrorism and urging madrasas to cooperate with authorities. [20] Representatives of the Jamia Ashraful Uloom madrasa told investigators they had cooperated with the inquiry and expressed shock at the allegations, describing him as a disciplined and academically able former student. [17] [21]
Additional reports from The Telegraph described scenes of “shock and awe” in Katki’s native village Paschimkachha, where local residents expressed disbelief at his arrest and called him a respected cleric and teacher. Neighbours told the paper that although he was known as a fiery speaker, he had been regarded as a religious scholar who ran a madrasa for children, mostly from Jharkhand and Odisha. Some villagers criticised him for bringing “a bad name” to the village, while his family and colleagues maintained his innocence. [22]
At the time of his arrest, initial police and media reports described Katki as a recruiter for the Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), alleging that he ran a madrasa near Cuttack with foreign funding and links abroad. [23] Later court proceedings and media reports did not substantiate these specific claims, and no such findings were recorded in judicial verdicts. [24] [25] [26] [27] [28]
The Odisha Crime Branch filed a chargesheet in December 2016 accusing Katki of offences under the UAPA and section 121(A) of the Indian Penal Code, alleging conspiracy, recruitment and related activities; police reported that no explosives or weapons were recovered. [29] [29] [30]
Following his arrest, Odisha and Jharkhand Police jointly investigated Katki’s connections in Jamshedpur and surrounding areas, examining possible local associates as part of a wider probe into AQIS activities. [31] [32] A report by Hindustan Times noted that a Delhi Police team brought Katki and Abdul Sami to Jamshedpur in April 2016 for interrogation in connection with a local FIR that alleged recruitment and indoctrination of youths in the city. [33]
In early 2016, some media reports and investigators stated that Katki’s interrogation suggested a wider AQIS presence in India; those reports described allegations of recruitment and foreign contacts but did not constitute formal charges on those specific counts in all jurisdictions. [34] [35]
In May 2017, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Odisha Crime Branch produced Katki before the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) in Salipur and indicated that a final chargesheet would be filed; the committal hearing was adjourned briefly after defence counsel said a copy of the chargesheet had not been provided. [36] [37] The STF later submitted a 574-page final chargesheet in June 2017, and the matter was transferred to the Cuttack District and Sessions Court for trial. [38]
Following this, Katki was transferred from Delhi’s Tihar Jail to Odisha and lodged in the Choudwar Circle Jail under orders of the Judicial Magistrate, Salipur. The case was committed to the Cuttack Sessions Court, where proceedings continued under heavy security. [24] [39] By 2018, he remained in custody at Choudwar Circle Jail and was produced periodically before the District and Sessions Court, Cuttack, though several hearings were adjourned due to the absence of prosecution witnesses. [25]
Court records show that charges were framed in 2017 under multiple UAPA provisions and sedition-related counts, and judicial proceedings continued over several years with multiple hearings and witness examinations. [40] [41] [42] [43]
The December 2015 operation by the Delhi Police Special Cell against the alleged Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) network led to a series of arrests across several Indian states. Those detained during the operation or in connected cases included clerics and preachers such as Abdul Rehman Katki, Mohammad Asif, Zafar Masood, Abdul Sami, Anzar Shah Qasmi, Ahmed Masood Akram Sheikh (Monu), Naseem Akhtar (Raju) and Kalimuddin Mazahiri. Police described the action as the first successful disruption of a suspected AQIS module in India. [44] [45] [2] [3] [46] [47]
| Name | Place & date of arrest | Reported role (as per police/media) | Outcome / case status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammad Asif | Seelampur, Delhi – 14 Dec 2015 [48] [49] | Reported as founding member and recruiter of AQIS; Delhi Police Special Cell described him as a key figure coordinating recruitment and training. [44] [45] Some early international reports (e.g., BBC) mentioned his arrest location as Odisha, but later police and court records confirmed it occurred in Delhi. [49] | Convicted by Delhi special court under UAPA in February 2023 along with Katki and two others; sentenced to seven years and five months’ rigorous imprisonment. [50] [51] |
| Abdul Rehman Katki | Paschimkachha, Cuttack (Odisha) – 16 Dec 2015 [2] [3] | Madrasa teacher; alleged facilitator and recruiter for AQIS [13] | Convicted under UAPA by Delhi court (Patiala House) in Feb 2023 — sentenced to 7½ years’ RI [50] ; later acquitted in separate Jamshedpur AQIS case on 28 Feb 2025 for lack of evidence [4] [5] |
| Zafar Masood | Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh – 17 Dec 2015 [52] [53] [49] | Alleged financier and member of AQIS cell (as per police reports) [19] | Convicted alongside Katki and Asif in Delhi (2023) — received same 7½-year sentence under UAPA [50] |
| Anzar Shah Qasmi | Bengaluru, Karnataka – 6 January 2016 [54] (Delhi Police Special Cell) [55] [56] [57] | Islamic preacher; alleged associate of Katki and Asif, accused of recruitment speeches [58] | Discharged by Delhi court on 17 Oct 2017 for want of “sufficient evidence” [59] |
| Abdul Sami | Nuh (Mewat), Haryana – 18 January 2016 (Delhi STF) [60] | Co-accused; alleged associate and recruiter linked to Katki [61] | Tried in Jamshedpur; acquitted on 28 Feb 2025 along with Katki and Kalimuddin for lack of evidence [62] [63] |
| Ahmed Masood Akram Sheikh (Monu) | Jamshedpur, Jharkhand – 24 Jan 2016 (Bistupur P.S. Case No. 21/2016) [47] [64] | Local resident of Dhatkidih; alleged by police to have motivated youths in Jamshedpur to join AQIS, reportedly influenced by Abdul Rehman Katki in early 2000s. 9 mm pistol and five live cartridges were recovered from his house. [65] | Convicted by ADJ-I Sanjay Kumar Upadhyay, Jamshedpur, on 13 Feb 2023 under sections 25(1A) & 26 of the Arms Act; sentenced on 24 Feb 2023 to eight years’ rigorous imprisonment and ₹10 000 fine. [65] |
| Naseem Akhtar (Raju) | Jamshedpur, Jharkhand – 24 Jan 2016 (arrested with Monu) [47] | Resident of Mango (Jamshedpur); arrested under the same FIR as Monu for alleged AQIS links and arms possession. | Acquitted by ADJ-I Jamshedpur on 24 Feb 2023 in the same Arms Act case for lack of evidence. [65] |
| Kalimuddin Mazahiri | Jamshedpur, Jharkhand – 21 September 2019 (arrested near Tatanagar railway station by Jharkhand ATS) [66] [67] [68] | Cleric from Azad Nagar, Mango (Jamshedpur); named in the 2016 Bistupur police FIR (No. 21/2016) along with Katki and Abdul Sami; police alleged he was linked with AQIS and was recruiting or motivating youth for “jihad”. [68] [66] [67] | Granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court on 3 November 2020 after noting lack of direct evidence and no prior criminal record; [69] later acquitted on 28 February 2025 by the Jamshedpur court due to lack of evidence. [4] [70] |
On 11 February 2023, a special court at the Patiala House Courts Complex convicted Katki and three others under sections 18 and 18B of the UAPA for conspiracy and recruitment; sentence was scheduled for 14 February 2023. [51]
On 14 February 2023, the court sentenced Katki and three co-accused to seven years and five months’ rigorous imprisonment under sections 18 and 18B. The defence counsel stated that the convicts had already spent around seven years and three months in custody and that this period would be counted as part of the sentence. [71] [50] [72] [73]
Following the verdict, Gulzar Azmi, head of the legal aid committee of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra (Arshad Madani), which had provided legal assistance to the accused, stated that while convictions were recorded under specific UAPA sections, the allegation of any connection with the Al-Qaeda organisation could not be proved. [74]
In April 2016, Katki and co-accused Abdul Sami were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Jamshedpur after being brought from Delhi’s Tihar Jail on transit remand. The court granted Jharkhand Police seven days’ custody for interrogation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the Bistupur police case. According to police statements cited in contemporaneous reports, the interrogation aimed to ascertain possible links with other suspects, including Masood Ahmed, and to determine whether the accused had undergone arms training abroad. [75] [76]
The trial arising from the 2016 FIR at Bistupur police station concluded on 28 February 2025, when the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Jamshedpur, acquitted Katki and two co-accused. The court held that the prosecution had failed to establish any links with Al-Qaeda and found the evidence insufficient under the UAPA. [4] [5] [70] [63] [62] [28] [77]
In December 2021, the Supreme Court of India directed the Delhi High Court to expedite hearing of Katki’s bail plea, noting prolonged pre-trial custody and limited progress in witness examination — a point raised by defence counsel as implicating the right to a speedy trial. [78]
In July 2024, the Supreme Court listed a special leave petition filed by Katki (SLP (Crl) Nos. 8719–8720/2024) challenging proceedings in the Jharkhand case. The matter, titled Md. Abdul Rhman Ali Khan @ Abdul Rehman @ Katki vs. State of Jharkhand , was listed before a bench comprising the Chief Justice, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra. [79]
On 4 March 2024, the Jharkhand High Court (DB) dismissed Katki’s appeal against refusal of regular bail, holding that the case diary and confessional statements furnished prima facie material under the UAPA and emphasising that in UAPA matters “jail is the rule and bail the exception.” [80] [81] The appeal was listed before the Division Bench comprising Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai, as shown in the High Court’s daily cause list for 4 March 2024. [82]
Between 2023 and 2025, Katki was moved between Tihar Jail in Delhi and Jharkhand facilities for hearings before different courts. His bail pleas and related interlocutory applications were heard in the Jharkhand and Orissa courts at various stages, with proceedings reported by the press. [83] [61] [84] [85]
Academic sources have briefly mentioned Katki's arrest in the context of studies on Deobandi networks and transnational jihadist movements. The book Faith-Based Violence and Deobandi Militancy in Pakistan (2016), published by Springer Nature, referred to him as an Indian cleric allegedly associated with attempts to establish AQIS-linked recruitment networks, based on contemporary security reports and press coverage from 2015. [86]