New Delhi: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh weighed in on the raids against the People Front of India (PFI) as he compared Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to the Popular Front of India (PFI) and said: "Whoever spreads hatred" are "ek thali ke chatte batte" (of the same ilk).
He also demanded action against RSS and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), news agency ANI reported.
The former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh was speaking to reporters on Saturday about the action taken against PFI when he said that action should be taken against anybody who "spreads violence, hatred and religious frenzy".
When asked if RSS can be compared to PFI, Singh responded with "definitely".
"Whoever spreads hate, religious frenzy, they are of the same ilk. 'Ek hi thaali ke chatte-batte hain'. They complement each other," he said, as quoted by ANI.
The largest-ever crackdown that was conducted against the Popular Front of India (PFI) members by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) spread across 15 states was code-named "Operation Octopus", on Saturday, as per ANI.
The joint teams of the NIA, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and police conducted multiple raids across 15 states of the country against PFI on September 22 and over 106 members were arrested. 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 NIA claimed that the seized documents during the raids contain highly incriminating materials targeting prominent leaders of a particular community.
The searches were conducted in connection with cases registered by the NIA following "continued inputs and evidence" that the PFI 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.
A large number of criminal cases have been registered in different states over the last few years against the PFI and its leaders and members for their involvement in many violent acts.
(With agency inputs)