PFI crackdown highlights | Section 144 in Delhi's Jamia Nagar after police arrest at least 250 across 7 states

At least 200 Popular Front of India (PFI) members were detained early Tuesday after fresh raids were conducted in 200 places across seven states. Police conducted searches in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra, sources were quoted by News18 as saying.

The raids took place after central agencies reportedly received inputs suggesting that the PFI was "planning violent protests" against the "largest-ever" investigation carried out by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and police last week.

Maharashtra Police have arrested 25 activists of the Popular Front of India (PFI) after raids in various districts of the state, officials said. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters that the crackdown on PFI was as per law based on investigation into their activities and evidence.

KSRTC moves Kerala HC seeking over Rs 5cr damages from PFI

The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on Tuesday moved the High Court here seeking directions to the Popular Front of India (PFI) to compensate for the loss of over Rs five crore caused to it due to damage to its buses and a reduction in services during the hartal on September 23.

More than 170 people allegedly linked with the Popular Front of India (PFI) were detained or arrested in raids across seven states on Tuesday, five days after a similar pan India crackdown against the group often accused of being linked to radical Islam. Conducted mostly by state police teams, the raids were spread across Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Delhi, Maharashtra, Assam and Madhya Pradesh.

Students of Jamia Millia University in Delhi have been warned

against holding protests amid the ongoing crackdown agains PFI in the city. Section 144 has been imposed in the entire Jamia Nagar area, where Jamia University is situated, from September 19 to November 11 in order to keep the law and order situation in check, News 18 reported.

Security has been tightened in Delhi amid mega crackdown on the PFI.

The Maharashtra Police said that around 40 people linked to PFI have been detained from Aurangabad, Solapur, Amravati, Pune, Thane and Mumbai so far. This entire operation has been carried out by the state's local police with inputs from a Central Agency.

Delhi Police commissioners will hold a meet on PFI raids.

More than 30 people have been detained from different places in Delhi.

Shaheen Kausar, belonging to the Women India Movement group, was arrested as part of the raids against PFI in Delhi on Tuesday, News 18 quoted sources as saying. Sources said she was arrested in the Shaheen Bagh area. Kausar is connected to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), considered as the political wing of PFI and was also a key figure in the anti-CAA-NRC protest in Delhi in 2020.

No raids are being conducted in Telangana by state police or ATS, ANI reported.

Assam police said as many as 25 PFI leaders/members have been arrested so far on Tuesday in districts including Kamrup Rural (5), Goalpara (10), Karimganj (1), Udalguri (1), Darrang (1), Dhubri (3), Barpeta (2), Baksa (2).

Malegaon police arrested Malegaon PFI chief Maulana Irfan Nadvi and PFI member and activist Iqbal from Malegaon. The arrest came a day after Maulana and Iqbal held a press brief with the family of Saif ur Rehman was among the 20 arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on September 22. Both the accused will be produced before the court on Tuesday.

The fresh raids were conducted a day after an intelligence note suggested that PFI is planning to target government agencies along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders and their organisations.

The note, accessed by News18, reportedly read that the PFI is planning a serious and sinister way to disturb public peace and tranquillity. They are "upset" after their senior leaders were detained in Tihar prison in New Delhi, it said.

It stated stated that the PFI cadres have chosen to retaliate violently against the government. The leaders have taken recourse to depute ‘bayathees’ who pledge their allegiance to their Amir (chief) either to kill or get killed, News 18 reported on Tuersday. ‘Bayathees’ means ‘agents of death’ or ‘fidayeen’ in Arabic.

The ‘bayathees’ have been tasked to target the NIA, ED, police and other government officials who are learnt to be inimical to their interests. The PFI also identified some top BJP leaders and RSS functionaries as their targets, top government sources were quoted as saying.

According to the note, the PFI cadres' modus operandi could be lone wolf attacks. In this, as per their code of conduct, except for the Amir, no one else will be in the knowhow of the plan even the identity or details of the target.

The PFI has been involved in several controversies, including the Karnataka’s hijab case, the Hathras rape and murder and the Citizenship Act Amendment protests.

Recently, the PFI grabbed headlines when central agency launched probed into the suspected terror module allegedly linked to the organization in connection with the Phulwari Sharif case.