In a massive crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) swung into action across 10 states and carried out searches at various locations. In all,106 people were arrested following the raids.
An NIA source related to the probe told The New Indian, “The agency sleuths, along with the ED and state police, carried out searches in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Assam, and Rajasthan.”
The source said that the anti-terror probe agency carried out searches on the premises of PFI offices and residences of its office-bearers along with the offices of its students’ wing Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). During searches, the agency sleuths arrested 106 people from various locations.
The source said that from Karnataka and Maharashtra, 20 people each were arrested, while a maximum of 22 people were held in Kerala.
The source added that from Tamil Nadu, 10 people have been arrested followed by eight in Uttar Pradesh, nine in Assam, five in Andhra Pradesh, three each from Delhi and Puducherry, four from Madhya Pradesh, and two in Rajasthan.
In Karnataka’s Mangaluru, the NIA team had to face a protest staged by the PFI and SDPI workers, who opposed the searches on the office premises of the organisation.
The source said that in Mangaluru, the NIA team is carrying out searches at over eight locations. According to the source, the agency sleuths are probing the source of funding to PFI, which it believes is being used for anti-national and terror activities across the country.
In the last few days, the NIA has cracked down on several people associated with PFI. The ED is also probing several cases of money laundering related to PFI.