The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a response from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on a plea moved by recently arrested Popular Front of India (PFI) associates for not providing the FIR copy to them.
The bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta on Friday posted the matter for October 10 on the plea by a PFI member, Muhammad Yusuf, arrested during the NIA’s raids on 22nd September, seeking direction to provide a copy of the FIR.
Appearing for the petitioner, Advocate Adit Pujari informed the court that the agency has not provided an FIR copy to the accused despite repeated requests. Recently, in a major crackdown against PFI, over 106 PFI members were arrested in multiple raids carried out by a joint team of NIA, ED, and state police across 11 states.
NIA also issued a press statement in the regard. The NIA conducted searches in 93 locations across 15 Indian states, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal, Bihar, and Manipur.
These searches were conducted at the houses and offices of the outfit’s leaders and members in connection with five cases registered by NIA following continued inputs and evidence that its leaders and cadres were involved in the funding of terrorism and terrorist activities, organising training camps for providing armed training and radicalising people to join banned organisations.
The NIA also said that a large number of criminal cases have been registered by different states over the last few years against the PFI and its leaders and members for their involvement in many violent acts. Criminal violent acts carried out by PFI, such as chopping off the hand of a college professor, cold-blooded killings of people associated with organisations espousing other faiths, collection of explosives to target prominent people and places, support to Islamic State and destruction of public property, have had a demonstrative effect of striking terror in the minds of the citizens.
