Fayaz Premji, accused of masterminding a mass poisoning plot during a Muharram procession in Byculla, Mumbai, has confessed to investigators that his anti-religious sentiments, stemming from a 2015 community election defeat, fueled his actions, leading him to believe his reformist views were unsupported. Following his alienation from the Khoja Shia community, Premji reportedly joined a liberal reformist group, faced harassment including vandalism and social ostracization, and publicly identified as an "ex-muslim," blaming the community for personal marital breakdowns. The plot was thwarted by two female volunteers, Ihlam Hamidi and Rukhsar Syed, who grew suspicious of Premji distributing numerous capsules with vague labeling, finding a black powder inside that smelled strong and strange, ultimately leading them to detain him and alert the police. Mumbai police are investigating Premji's procurement of over 40 kilograms of zinc phosphate for the approximately 14,900 capsules, with suppliers unaware of his criminal intentions, while the Pune Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamaat has officially debarred him for detrimental conduct.

Fayaz Premji, accused of masterminding a mass poisoning plot during a Muharram procession in Byculla, Mumbai, has confessed to investigators that his anti-religious sentiments, stemming from a 2015 community election defeat, fueled his actions, leading him to believe his reformist views were unsupported. Following his alienation from the Khoja Shia community, Premji reportedly joined a liberal reformist group, faced harassment including vandalism and social ostracization, and publicly identified as an "ex-muslim," blaming the community for personal marital breakdowns. The plot was thwarted by two female volunteers, Ihlam Hamidi and Rukhsar Syed, who grew suspicious of Premji distributing numerous capsules with vague labeling, finding a black powder inside that smelled strong and strange, ultimately leading them to detain him and alert the police. Mumbai police are investigating Premji's procurement of over 40 kilograms of zinc phosphate for the approximately 14,900 capsules, with suppliers unaware of his criminal intentions, while the Pune Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamaat has officially debarred him for detrimental conduct.

Fayaz Premji, accused of masterminding a mass poisoning plot during a Muharram procession in Byculla, Mumbai, has confessed to investigators that his anti-religious sentiments, stemming from a 2015 community election defeat, fueled his actions, leading him to believe his reformist views were unsupported. Following his alienation from the Khoja Shia community, Premji reportedly joined a liberal reformist group, faced harassment including vandalism and social ostracization, and publicly identified as an "ex-muslim," blaming the community for personal marital breakdowns. The plot was thwarted by two female volunteers, Ihlam Hamidi and Rukhsar Syed, who grew suspicious of Premji distributing numerous capsules with vague labeling, finding a black powder inside that smelled strong and strange, ultimately leading them to detain him and alert the police. Mumbai police are investigating Premji's procurement of over 40 kilograms of zinc phosphate for the approximately 14,900 capsules, with suppliers unaware of his criminal intentions, while the Pune Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamaat has officially debarred him for detrimental conduct.

Fayaz Premji, the man who masterminded the failed mass poisoning plot during Muharram processions in Byculla, Mumbai, has revealed some of his motives to investigators.

Premji told police that he had developed anti-religious sentiments after he lost the Jamaat or community elections in 2015, the Indian Express reported.

Premji said that the defeat convinced him that his “reformist views” had little support within his Khoja Shia community.

Around 2015-16, he reportedly distanced himself from the community and joined with a small group of like-minded Khoja Shias in Mumbai that advocated for reforms.

The group reportedly had a more liberal interpretation of Islam and questioned conservative practices.

His criticism reportedly led to constant harassment with his business in Pune being vandalised and him being socially ostracised.

He has reportedly appeared on podcasts where he described himself as an “ex-muslim” who no longer followed Islam.

"He blamed the community for the breakdown of his marriage and that of his brother. There was simmering resentment over the years, which eventually led him to take this extreme step," a police officer said.

Police said that they are yet to ascertain whether Premji contested the 2015 election in Mumbai or Pune . Pune Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamaat (KSIJ) meanwhile issued a statement announcing that Premji had been debarred from the organisation, alleging that he engaged in conduct detrimental to the interests of the community.

Premji’s plot was uncovered by volunteers at the Muharram procession.

Two women, Ihlam Hamidi and Rukhsar Syed, were both acting as volunteers at the rally on June 26 when they uncovered the plot after they found Premji and his ‘cure-all’ pills suspicious.

Rukhsar Syed, who spoke to BBC Hindi, said, “Ihlam and I were stationed outside the Mazgaon mosque. Some people from the procession were resting there after getting tired. At the same time, a man was distributing a large number of capsules. He was saying it was the cure for all kinds of problems."

"People were buying it thinking it was 'Niyaz-e-Hussain'. Since it was nighttime, it was not clearly visible what was written on the packet."

She continues, "Ihlam took a packet of capsules. Nothing was clearly written on it. This made us suspicious. We opened one of the capsules and found a black powder inside.

According to Ihlam Hamidi, she found the man’s claims of the pills being able to cure anything and the way he distributed them suspicious. She said, "The man was distributing the capsules by throwing them. This is not how tabarruk (prasad) is distributed. That's why I became suspicious."

Hamidi took one of the pills that was thrown and examined it contents. She said that it smelled strong and strange.

The woman then stopped him while he was about to leave and found his blue bag of capsules. They said that they snatched the bag from his hand and caught him by his collar before contacting the police.

Ihlam Hamidi is a coffee trader in Byculla, and Rukhsar Syed is a cosmetic saleswoman in Mumbai. They are also good friends.

They also asked people not to take the capsules and handed them to the police.

Mumbai police also traced financial links and the backlinks to the entire case, including supply chains, to find out how Premji procured over 40 kilograms of zinc phosphate he used to fill around 14,900 capsules.

Police found that the suppliers had no idea of Fayaz Premji’s criminal plans and thought that it was a regular commercial transaction.

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