The National Investigation Agency (NIA) launched a massive search operation at 28 locations across Kerala in the early hours of Thursday to target the second tier leader of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI). The raid was following a plan by PFI leaders to regroup the unit under some other name, a senior official said.
While eight places associated with leaders of the banned PFI were raided in Ernakulam, six properties were under the radar in Thiruvananthapuram. The raid began around 4:00 a.m. and was still ongoing at the time of writing. The raids were conducted in coordination with the state police following specific inputs against PFI cadres who are accused of involvement in several terrorist acts and the murder of several persons including Sanjith (Kerala, November 2021), V-Ramalingam (Tamil Nadu, 2019), Nandu ( Kerala, 2021), Abhimanyu (Kerala, 2018), Bibin (Kerala, 2017), Sharath (Kamataka, 2017), R.Rudresh (Kamataka, 2016), Praveen Puyari (Karnataka and Sasi Kumar), Tamil Nadu, 2016).
The Home Ministry had earlier said that criminal activities and brutal killings were carried out by PFI cadres with the sole objective of “disturbing public peace and tranquility and creating a reign of terror in the public mind”. PFI was founded in Kerala in 2006 and also formed a political front in 2009 Social Democratic Party of India. The Kerala-based fundamentalist group, which later spread its tentacles to various parts of the country, was banned by the Union government in September this year.
The ban followed hartals by PFI members, resulting in widespread violence across the state, after which the Kerala High Court ordered the state government to recover damages to public property from the officers and accused in the case.
