NIA seals PFI headquarters in Kozhikode in Kerala
Sep 30, 2022
Kozhikode (Kerala) [India], September 30 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday sealed the state headquarters of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Kozhikode in Kerala, days after the government banned the radical outfit for having "terror links".
The central government agency sealed the office in Meenchanda area and pasted a notice on its wall in presence of local police officials.
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The sealing happened on a day a special NIA court sent 11 PFI workers to judicial custody for 21 days. These workers were booked under the UAPA and arrested by the NIA last week from different parts of Kerala. They presented before the court as their initial custody was coming to an end today.
Earlier this week, the Centre imposed a ban on the radical outfit and its affiliates for five years for having "terror links". Along with PFI, the ban has been imposed on Rehab India Foundation, Campus Front of India, All India Imams Council, National Confederation of Human Rights Organization, National Women's Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation.
A Home Ministry notification mentioned that the ban has been imposed against PFI and its fronts for "indulging in unlawful activities, which are prejudicial to the integrity, sovereignty and security of the country and have the potential of disturbing public peace and communal harmony of the country and supporting militancy in the country".
Following the ban, the PFI Kerala state general secretary of the outfit Abdul Sattar said the organisation has been dissolved. "All PFI members and the public are informed that the PFI has been dissolved. MHA has issued a notification banning PFI. As law-abiding citizens of our great country, the organization accepts the decision," he said.
Sattar, who had been allegedly absconding, has been arrested and handed over to the NIA by Kerala Police.
