Kerala Court Grants Custody Of 11 PFI Members To NIA Till September 30

On September 22, a multi-agency operation spearheaded by NIA conducted simultaneous raid across the country arresting 106 members of the PFI including its office bearers and members from 11 states.

PFI members after being produced before court following a nationwide raid spearheaded by the NIA on Thursday in Kochi

New Delhi: A special court in Kerala’s Kochi on Saturday granted custody of 11 members of Popular Front of India (PFI) to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), who were arrested on September 22 reported news agency PTI. The NIA special court has granted the custody of the 11 PFI members till September 30. 

As per the report, some accused who were taken to the court raised slogans against the probe agency. However, a lawyer representing some of the accused said that the court asked them to avoid sloganeering as it was ready to hear them, the report added. 

On September 22, a multi-agency operation spearheaded by NIA conducted simultaneous raid across the country arresting 106 members of the PFI including its office bearers and members from 11 states their alleged support to terror activities in the country, the officials had said. 

The maximum number of arrests were made in Kerala (22) followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka (20 each), Tamil Nadu (10), Assam (9), Uttar Pradesh (8), Andhra Pradesh (5), Madhya Pradesh (4), Puducherry and Delhi (3 each) and Rajasthan (2).

The federal anti-terror agency raised serious allegations against the PFI and its arrested leaders claiming that documents seized during the raids contain highly incriminating materials targeting prominent leaders of a particular community. 

In a remand report submitted by the NIA to the Kerala special court seeking custody of 10 accused in a case registered against them, the federal agency alleged that office bearers and members of The Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates in Kerala encourage the vulnerable youth to join terrorists organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), or Daesh and Al-Qaida. 

The central agency also accused the PFI's members and cadres operating from Kerala to conspire to indulge in "unlawful activities by creating enmity between members of different religions and groups, prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, with the intention to disrupt public tranquillity and cause disaffection against India".