In fresh crackdown, Assam Police nabs many from PFI network

The Assam Police on Tuesday launched another operation against the Popular Front of India (PFI) in various districts of the state.

The police have detained several people linked with PFI. Hiren Nath, ADGP (Special Branch) of Assam Police told ANI that several people have been detained by police in various districts.

Hitesh Ch. Roy, Superintendent of Police of Kamrup district said that the Kamrup District Police on Tuesday detained four persons linked with PFI from the Nagarbera area.

“Our operation against PFI is on in many parts of the district,” Hitesh Ch. Roy said.
Earlier, Assam Police arrested 11 leaders of workers of PFI from various parts of the state and one from Delhi.

Continuing the crackdown on the organisation, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra Police arrested a man on Monday in connection with the nationwide crackdown on PFI. The arrested accused has been identified as Mohd Abed Ali.

The UP Police Special Task Form (STF) also arrested one person yesterday. The STF arrested a person identified as Abdul Majeed from the Vibhutikhand bus stand from Lucknow under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) when he was trying to leave the city, police said.

Earlier, the Karnataka unit of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), a political wing of the Popular Front of India, on Monday condemned the raids conducted by the National Investigation Agency against its members, and asked why the central agency had not yet conducted raids on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliated organizations for “acts of communal hatred”.

The NIA had arrested over 106 members of the PFI during its largest-ever raids spread across 15 states on September 22.

Addressing a press conference here, State Principal Secretary of SDPI, Bhaskar said, “We condemn the unconstitutional raids by NIA. Why hasn’t the RSS been raided yet? We say that RSS is a non-registered organisation as well as a terrorist organisation. PFI is a registered organisation”.

Terming the NIA raids as a “ploy” to suppress a “strong voice”, the SDPI leader claimed that the government could not prove a single case against the political outfit.

“This is a ploy to suppress a strong voice. They have tried this for years, but they couldn’t prove a single case against SDPI. However, the communal fascist government is constantly carrying out such attacks to create hatred among the people against SDPI and PFI organizations,” the SDPI leader said.

“The biggest dangerous organization in this country is RSS and its organizations like Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Sri Ram Sena, etc. They are involved in acts of communal hatred. But they are never attacked by the NIA,” the SDPI leader alleged.

The PFI was launched in Kerala in 2006 after merging three Muslim organizations floated after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 – the National Development Front of Kerala, Karnataka Forum for Dignity and Manitha Neethi Pasari of Tamil Nadu. After the demolition of the Babri mosque, many fringe outfits had surfaced in south India and PFI was formed after merging some of them.

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