In a significant development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) released a wanted list of individuals suspected of involvement with the banned organisation, Popular Front of India (PFI). The move comes as part of a broader crackdown on extremist groups aiming to maintain peace and security within the region.
The Popular Front of India (PFI) has been under scrutiny for its alleged involvement in various controversial activities across the country. The organisation has been accused of promoting communal disharmony, inciting violence, and engaging in unlawful activities, and it was banned by the government of India in September 2022.
The wanted list includes individuals from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, suspected of holding key positions within the organisation, orchestrating illicit activities, and fomenting unrest.
Law enforcement agencies have urged the public to cooperate by providing any information that could lead to the apprehension of these wanted individuals. They have assured that all information provided will be treated with the utmost confidentiality, and persons sharing credible inputs leading to the arrest of absconders will be suitably rewarded.
NIA in its release said “Ifyou have any information on their present whereabouts or information that can lead to their arrest, please share via WhatsApp +91-9497715294”.
The suspects are:
1. Shaik Iliyas Ahmed s/o Ghouse Basha r/o H No.B-13/54R, Jamila Mahar; 1st Street, Khaja Nagar, Buchi Reddy Palem Mandal, Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh
2. Abdul Saleem s/0 Abdul Gafoor r/o H.No.4-3-201/5, Islampura, Jagtial, Telangana
3. Md Abdul Ahad @ MA Ahad slo Abdul Wahed rlo H No.9-20-312, Malapally Mujahed Nagar Nizamabad, Telangana
— NIA India (@NIA_India) March 8, 2024
On March 2, 2024, The NIA apprehended an absconding chargesheeted accused; carrying a cash reward of Rs. 2 lakhs for his arrest, in the Nizamabad PFI case involving an anti-India conspiracy by the banned outfit to carry out acts of terror and violence.
As per the NIA, Abdul Saleem, who was the State Secretary for the PFI Telangana North is the 1Sth accused to be arrested in the case originally registered by the State Police at Nizamabad Police Station in July 2O22 and taken over by the NIA in August the same year.
Abdul Saleem has been on the run since the case came to light and NIA had subsequently declared the reward for his arrest. He was nabbed from Mydukur in Kadappa district of Andhra Pradesh based in an intelligence-led operation. NIA investigations in the case have revealed that he was involved in radicalisation and recruitment of impressionable Muslim youth into the PFI. He was also sending them to Terror Training Camps for weapons training to equip them to further the organisation’s nefarious anti-India agenda. NIA had earlier chargesheeted 11 accused including Abdul Saleem, in December 2O22, followed by supplementary chargesheets against five in March and one in December last year.
