Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday that his government has consistently requested that the Popular Front of India (PFI) be banned for allegedly "creating an eco-system for terror activities," news agency ANI reported. The statement came after agencies revealed that evidence suggests that PFI planned to cause disruptions during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's July 12 visit to Bihar's capital Patna.


In a major breakthrough related to the largest-ever action against the Popular Front of India (PFI), Central investigating agencies discovered inputs against the outfit for "organising a training camp with the intent to cause disruption during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bihar's capital Patna on July 12 this year," ANI reported. 


Assam police have arrested "11 PFI activists" as part of a nationwide crackdown on the radical Islamic outfit, CM said. 


"The Assam government has consistently requested that the PFI be banned... we are convinced that the organisation should be banned," PTI quotes Sarma as saying.


Sarma stated that the police are looking into whether there are any links between the outfit and radicalisation modules found in some madrasas raided by law enforcement agencies since March of this year.


"We have intelligence that the PFI has created an ecosystem that encourages some people to join the radicalisation modules sponsored by ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS)," Sarma explained.


Multi-agency teams led by the NIA arrested 106 leaders and activists of the radical Islamic outfit in near-simultaneous raids in 15 states on Thursday for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country.


Agencies Reveals PFI Plotted To Cause Disturbances During PM's Patna Rally On July 12


The information was revealed in two separate remand copies submitted by the Enforcement Directorate: one to a special judge in Lucknow against Muhammed Shafeeque Payeth, a resident of Kozhikode in Kerala, and the other to a special court in Delhi against Perwez Ahmed. Both Payeth and Ahmed were apprehended on September 22 in Kerala and Delhi, respectively, as part of the first-ever largest search operation conducted by a joint team of the ED, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and state police forces, which resulted in the arrest of 106 PFI members from 15 states, reports ANI. 


The remand copies also revealed that the PFI was "organising a training camp with the intent of causing disruption during the Hon'ble Prime Minister's visit to Patna on July 12, 2022." The out is also accused of "preparing, printing, and possessing incriminating literature with the potential to jeopardise the nation's unity, integrity, and sovereignty."


Furthermore, the agencies discovered details of numerous PFI bank accounts during the course of the investigation.


The ED informed the court that the inputs were received after the ED obtained information about individuals and entities and analysed their bank statements. Statements from various PFI and related entities have also been recorded, according to the agency, which mentions the Bihar Police and the NIA investigations.


"The NIA has investigated and filed charge sheets in 12 cases involving PFI and its related entities and individuals... Investigations have also revealed PFI's criminal conspiracy in raising and collecting funds from unknown and suspicious sources both within and outside the country, and the subsequent transfer, layering, and integration of such funds for eventual use in their ongoing unlawful activities, which include, but are not limited to, inciting violence and fomenting trouble leading to the February 2020 Delhi riots," the copy states. 


These predicate agency cases concern unlawful activities carried out by PFI and its related individuals and organisations to engage in criminal conspiracy with the intent to disturb communal harmony, spread terror, incite communal riots, train their cadre to use explosives and weapons, form a terrorist gang, and collect deadly weapons and explosive devices to launch simultaneous attacks on many important persons and sensitive locations, reports ANI. 


(With inputs from agencies)