PFI ‘reporter’ arrested in Kerala: NIA

PTI, Jan 18, 2023, 7:51 PM IST

The National Investigation Agency has arrested a ‘reporter’ of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) who was assigned to collect details about the leaders of other community for possible targeting by ”hit squads”, an official said on Wednesday.

Mohammed Sadik, a resident of Mannezhathu Thata in Kerala, was arrested during searches at a location in Kollam district, a spokesperson for the federal anti-terror agency said.

The official said the searches were carried out on Tuesday in connection with a case pertaining to conspiracy and unlawful activities of the PFI, its office-bearers, members and affiliates in Kerala.

The group was conspiring to create enmity between members of different religions and groups prejudicial to maintenance of peace and communal harmony, the spokesperson said.

They also encouraged vulnerable youth to join terrorist organisations, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as Daesh and al-Qaeda, the spokesperson said.

The NIA said the conspiracy was to establish Islamic rule in India by committing terrorist acts as a part of ‘jihad’. The case was suo-motu registered by the NIA at branch office Kochi on September 19, last year, the spokesperson said.

”Investigation has revealed that the PFI had assigned the job of a ‘reporter’ to Sadik. A ‘reporter’ in the PFI system collects details about leaders of other communities for possible targeting by ‘hit squads’ of the PFI,” the spokesperson said. During the searches, the NIA said digital devices and several incriminating documents have been seized from the house of the accused.