In its relentless pursuit to counter the Popular Front of India’s (PFI) alleged plans to disturb national peace and harmony, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) carried out simultaneous raids in five states on Sunday.
A representative from the NIA informed that they had targeted 14 distinct sites across Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Bihar. These raids led to the confiscation of various digital devices and potentially incriminating documents.
Specifically, the NIA operations spanned Kannur and Malappuram in Kerala, Dakshin Kannada in Karnataka, Nashik and Kolhapur in Maharashtra, Murshidabad in West Bengal, and Katihar in Bihar.
An NIA spokesperson outlined the agency’s concerns, stating, “The PFI, along with its top brass, is allegedly working towards building an armed force, with the intent of establishing an Islamic caliphate in India by 2047. Their methods involve promoting acts of terror, violence, and disruption.”
Furthermore, the spokesperson highlighted the PFI’s purported plans to radicalise susceptible youngsters, arm them, and propagate a violent anti-India ideology by sowing discord among specific societal sections. The agency believes that numerous mid-level PFI operatives, functioning as primary trainers, are clandestinely organising arms training sessions across different states for their deeply radicalised members.
These latest raids are part of a broader campaign by the NIA. “Based on intelligence analysis and investigative insights, the agency has been actively pursuing and apprehending these radical elements over the past few months,” the spokesperson shared.
The NIA’s scrutiny of PFI began in earnest in April the previous year, resulting in the detention of many of its key members, including a significant portion of the National Executive Council, after nationwide raids in September 2022.
This April, the investigation agency filed a supplementary charge sheet against the PFI’s national coordinator responsible for weapons training. The primary charge sheet against the PFI as an entity, along with 19 members, was presented in March.
The spokesperson concluded by emphasising the agency’s commitment, “Investigations are ongoing to fully expose PFI’s alleged grand scheme to indoctrinate and train vulnerable youth to wreak havoc across the nation.”
