The sleuths of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had to return empty-handed in Kerala, as some terrorists of Popular Front of India (PFI) functionaries left the place before it came to arrest them. This has once again vindicated the charges that the PFI cadres have infiltrated in the Kerala Police force or it has PFI moles in their rolls.
On December 29, three alleged terrorists of the banned Islamist terrorist organisation PFI went ‘missing’ from Pathanamthitta as NIA carried out searches at 56 locations in Kerala linked to the PFI conspiracy case. Three of them are suspected to fled from their residences before the arrival of the NIA teams in Pathanamthitta.
According to Mathrubhumi daily, the three PFI leaders in the area left before the NIA raids, with one of them leaving just hours ahead of the NIA search begun; NIA conducted the raids after intimating the local police. NIA suspects that there have been prior information passed on to them by the local policemen. It has now started a probe into the matter of the leaked information.
As part of its continued crackdown against the PFI, the NIA conducted searches at 56 locations in Kerala. The searches were made at the premises and offices of several suspects having links with PFI. In September this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs banned PFI, its associates, and affiliates for five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 by declaring it as an unlawful association.
The raids started early on December 29, 2022, in coordination with State police following specific inputs against PFI who are accused of their involvement in several terrorist acts and the murder of several persons.
The searches were conducted at the homes of the banned organisation’s second-level officials at Nedumangad, Thonnakkal, and Pallikkal in Thiruvananthapuram and those who provided financial assistance to them.
The residence of Muhammad Rashid, state secretary of the banned organisation, was also being searched in Pathanamthitta. The residence of Nizar, a state committee member, was also raided. Apart from Nedumangad, Thonnakkal, and Pallikkal, searches were also conducted in Kollam, Palakkad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode.
The MHA has also mentioned “international linkages of PFI with Global Terrorist Groups”, and that some activists of the outfit have joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and participated in terror activities in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The current searches by NIA come months after the agency carried out searches at more than 150 locations across the country against PFI cadres.
In continuation of its crackdown against the PFI, the NIA conducted searches at 56 locations in Kerala. The searches are still going on at the premises and offices of several suspects having links with PFI, an organisation banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs in September this year with its associates and affiliates for five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 by declaring it as an unlawful association.
The MHA had earlier said that the PFI cadres have carried out the criminal activities and brutal murders for the sole objective of “disturbing public peace and tranquility and creating a reign of terror in the public mind”.
In the raid that happened two months ago, police were not intimated, and NIA conducted it with the help of CRPF, which is also under the Centre. However, this time they informed the local police about their action and sought their help. It is pertinent to note that in October 2022, there were reports claiming NIA had given a list of 873 police personnel suspected to have links with PFI to DGP. It was neither confirmed nor denied by the local police. Now disappearance of some important PFI men before the NIA raid vindicates the report that claimed moles in the police force or the presence of familiar elements in it.
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