NIA raids at least 28 locations across Kerala linked to banned PFI leaders

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) started a massive search operation at 28 locations across Kerala in the early hours of Thursday targeting second rung leaders of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI).

The raid was in the wake of PFI leaders’ plan to regroup the outfit in some other name, a senior official said.

While eight locations linked to the leaders of banned PFI were raided in Ernakulam, six premises were under radar in Thiruvananthapuram. The raid started at around 4am and was still continuing at the time of writing this.

The raids were conducted in coordination with state police following specific inputs against PFI cadres who are accused of their 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, 2016), and Sasi Kumar (Tamil Nadu, 2016).

The ministry of home affairs had earlier said that the criminal activities and brutal murders have been carried out by the PFI cadres for the sole objective of “disturbing public peace and tranquillity and creating a reign of terror in the public mind”.

The PFI was formed in Kerala in 2006 and it also floated a political front — Social Democratic Party of India — in 2009. The Kerala-born fundamentalist outfit which later spread its tentacles to different 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 directed the state government to recover the damage to public property from the officer-bearers and accused in the case.