Thiruvananthapuram: Following the arrest of two suspected Islamic State sympathisers by the Kerala Police, the BJP state unit on Thursday demanded a probe into a claim by one of the arrested accused that 700 persons from the southern state were converted to Islam.

Arshid Qureshi and Rizwan Khan — alleged to be close to controversial preacher Zakir Naik of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) — were picked up in Mumbai in a joint operation by the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad and the Kerala Police. They were remanded in police custody by a Kochi court on Monday.