NIA raids 7 locations in Rajasthan in Popular Front India case

The federal agency had taken up the case on September 19, after the outfit was banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

As per the ANI report, the case is based on claims that Sadiq Sarraf, a resident of Baran district in Rajasthan, and Mohammed Asif from Kota, of the Popular Front of India (PFI) along with office bearers, members, and cadres were indulging in unlawful activities.

The PFI and its eight affiliate organisations were banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on September 28, 2022. This came after a nationwide crackdown by the NIA and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) led to arrests and recovery of purported incriminating documents from offices and residences of the outfit’s office bearers.

The outfit was accused of fuelling radicalisation and involvement in terror funding by the Centre.

As per the official notification from the MHA, the PFI was involved in several criminal and terror cases and received funds and ideological support from outside. It added that the organisation has become a major threat to the internal security of the country.

The notification added that the PFI and its cadres have been repeatedly engaging in violent and subversive acts as found in investigations in various cases, as per a report by Hindustan Times.

Violent acts such as chopping off a hand of a college professor, cold-blooded killings of persons associated with organisations espousing other faiths, obtaining explosives to target prominent people and places, and destruction of public property were carried out by PFI cadres, investigations revealed.