ATS files chargesheet against 5 PFI office-bearers

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Thursday filed a chargesheet against five office-bearers of the Popular Front of India (PFI), who were arrested following nationwide raids for allegedly being involved in unlawful activities and waging war against the nation

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Thursday filed a chargesheet against five office-bearers of the Popular Front of India (PFI), who were arrested following nationwide raids for allegedly being involved in unlawful activities and waging war against the nation.

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The five accused - Mazhar Khan, Sadiq Shaikh, Mohammad Iqbal Khan, Momin Mistry and Aasif Hussain Khan were arrested by the Mumbai unit of the Maharashtra ATS for their association with the PFI.

The five accused were among 20 people nabbed from the state by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), in multi-agency raids across the country spearheaded by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September.

In a massive crackdown on PFI, multi-agency teams had arrested over 100 leaders and activists of the radical Islamic outfit in multiple raids in several states for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country.

The government has banned the PFI and several of its associates for five years, accusing them of having “links” with global terror groups like ISIS.

After the demolition of the Babri mosque, many fringe outfits surfaced in south India and PFI was formed after merging some of them. The PFI’s earlier headquarters was in Kozhikode, but after broadening its base, it was shifted to Delhi.