Imam Muhammad Masood, brother of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of Jamaatud Daawa, formerly Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, was arrested in Boston on Monday on federal immigration fraud charges, but bailed out later.
A small group of protesters, in the main representing his right-wing supporters, mounted a demonstration outside the courthouse, calling it a witch hunt and insisting that the immigration case was just turned into a criminal case but the charges are still frivolous.
What his supporters called frivolous included such charges as the fact that his car was registered in the wrong state, the information on his health insurance application was inaccurate and that he did not spend the required period of time back in Pakistan between the time he was on a student visa and his current religious worker visa. One of Hafiz Saeed and Masoods brother, also an imam has already been deported with most of his family on similar grounds.
According to a report in Boston Globe on Tuesday, Masood (49), imam of the 1,500-member Islamic Centre of New England, is accused of lying repeatedly to federal immigration officials between 2002 and 2006 in a bid to obtain a green card and ultimately become a US citizen. The criminal charges follow administrative charges brought by immigration officials last year.
A detailed affidavit filed in federal court alleges that Masood told authorities that after attending a masters degree programme in economics at Boston University in the early 1990s, he returned to Pakistan for two years, as required by law, before returning to the United States in 1993 and later applying for residency. But, the affidavit says, Masood never left Boston, and records show that he continued to live in Boston University housing with his wife and children, even though he was no longer a student. He was cited for a couple of traffic violations and was present when his fifth child was born in Boston in 1992, the affidavit indicates. Authorities also allege that Masood did not disclose that he had collected state health benefits from 1997 to 2005 and initially denied ever being charged with any crimes, although he later acknowledged that he had been arrested for shoplifting in Norwood in 2000. The charge was later dismissed.
Bilal Kaleem of the Boston chapter of the Muslim American Society told the Boston Globe correspondent that Masood had been interrogated by the US attorneys office for six hours last week and was threatened with jail and humiliation, unless he cooperated by providing incriminating information against mainstream Muslim leaders in the Boston area. Kaleem described Masood as an upstanding man of high integrity who was charged with criminal violations after he insisted he had no incriminating information to offer.
In response to the allegations, the newspaper reported, the office of US Attorney Michael J Sullivan released a statement saying, The characterisation of this as a government witch hunt is regrettable, as the detailed allegations contained in the complaint affidavit demonstrate there is a clear factual basis for the charges against Masood.
US Magistrate Judge Joyce London Alexander released Masood on a $10,000 unsecured bond and fixed a hearing for August 9 on the charges. Masoods lawyer Norman Zalkind said his client surrendered after learning that the criminal complaint had been issued and will plead not guilty at his arraignment.
In November, Masood and his 24-year-old son, Hassan, were arrested along with 31 others by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a nationwide crackdown on an alleged scheme to provide religious worker visas to immigrants who were supposed to be working full-time secular jobs but were not, the Boston Globe report recalled. The immigration fraud charge brought against Masood last fall was dropped, but he is facing a hearing Oct. 11 on charges that he overstayed his visa in the 1990s.
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Police shut down offices of Jamaatud Dawa and arrested scores of operatives as it continued a crackdown against the banned group on Friday, officials said.
The government has directed public and private TV channels not to air statements by banned Pakistani outfits, a private TV channel reported on Thursday. According to the channel, the government has also cancelled the declaration of weekly 'Ghazwa' and the monthly 'Al Dawa' -- published by the now-banned 
Imam Muhammad Masood, brother of 
Leaders of various religious parties have demanded the immediate removal of Pope Benedict XVI and announced they will launch a countrywide protest campaign to condemn the pope's remarks against Jihad and Prophet Muhammad (