The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at 56 places across Kerala on Thursday in connection with the Popular Front of India (PFI) conspiracy case.
Several suspects with ties to cadres of PFI, an organisation banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs in September of this year along with its associates and affiliates for a period of five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 by declaring it an unlawful association, are still being searched at their homes and workplaces.
The raids began early Thursday morning in coordination with state police in response to specific intelligence against PFI cadres accused of involvement in multiple terrorist acts and the murder of several individuals, including Sanjith (Kerala, November 2021), V-Ramalingam (Tamil Nadu, 2019), Nandu (Kerala, 2021), Abhimanyu (Kerala, 2018), Bibin (Kerala, 2017), Sharath (Kamataka, 2017), R.Ru (Tamil Nadu, 2016).
The MHA had previously stated that the criminal actions and savage murders were committed by PFI cadres with the express purpose of “disturbing public peace and tranquilly and instilling fear in the minds of the public.”
The MHA has also cited “international ties between PFI and Global Terrorist Groups” and the fact that some PFI members have joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and engaged in terrorist activities in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Some of these PFI cadres with ties to ISIS were slain in these fighting zones, while others were apprehended by State Police and Central Agencies. Additionally, the PFI has ties to Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a proscribed terrorist organisation.
This year, the NIA has conducted searches at over 150 places across the country in search of PFI cadres.
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