UP sends ban-PFI recommendation to central govt

LUCKNOW The Uttar Pradesh home department has forwarded to the union government the state police recommendation to ban Popular Front of India (PFI) for allegedly

LUCKNOW The Uttar Pradesh home department has forwarded to the union government the state police recommendation to ban Popular Front of India (PFI) for allegedly conspiring and inciting wide spread violence during anti Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests recently, said director general of police (DGP) Om Prakash Singh here on Friday.

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Interacting with media persons, in the presence of additional chief secretary (ACS), home, Awanish Awasthi, the DGP reiterated that PFI was actively involved in mobilising people during violent anti-CAA protests across the state that claimed several lives on December 19 and 20.

He said the police have ample proof to prove the involvement of PFI in violence and its 25 active members were arrested from across the state, including three from Lucknow. “We have documentary proof, data and electronic footprints that suggested the PFI mobilised people for the violence,” he added.

The DGP said another organization, Rihai Manch, was also involved in the violence conspiracy and some of its active members had been arrested.

Rihai Manch office-bearers, however denied their involvement in the violence and have challenged the arrest of one of its senior members and lawyer Mohd Shoaib in court.

Earlier, the DGP had stated the PFI was slowly making footprints in western parts of the state. He said that evidence collected so far and material seized from them were been examined forensically and digitally.

“The PFI’s name last cropped up in 2010, when its members were booked under section 153A (promoting enmity) and 153-B (imputations, assertion, prejudicial to national integration) in Safdarganj area of Barabanki district,” another senior police officer privy of the development.

Lucknow SSP Kalanidhi Naithani, too, confirmed that PFI members called people on the pretext of peaceful protest and later incited violence. He said text messages exchanged by PFI members on social media prove that they had planned for a violent protest.

Police officials associated with the violence probe said as many as 16 ‘close chat groups’ have been identified where PFI group members called for violent protests in the state.

The officials said PFI was active in over a dozen district of UP, including Shamli, Muzzafarnagar, Meerut, Bijnor, Lucknow, Barabanki, Gonda, Bahraich, Varanasi, Azamgarh and Sitapur. They said 10 FIRs have been lodged against the group in different districts of including Barabanki, Sitapur, Muzzafarnagar, Meerut and Bijnor for putting up inciting posters in the past.

In Lucknow, the group came to light in July this year when its members allegedly pasted posters bearing its name with images of mob lynching. The posters, pasted in a crowded residential locality in the trans-Gomti area, showed an image of a mob attacking a man and carried the caption — ‘Bekhauf Jiyo, Baa Izzat Jiyo’ (live without fear, live with dignity), police said.

Denying the police charges, in-charge of PFI’s Northern Region Anis Ansari said: “The police are acting against PFI on the direction of the state government that is against the organisation and people who work for the marginalised society. Uttar Pradesh police is trying to hide its failure in preventing violence by putting the blame on PFI.”

According to ANI, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has received a report from Uttar Pradesh on the activities of Popular Front of India (PFI) in the state, sources in the ministry said on Friday.

“We have received a report from Uttar Pradesh on activities of PFI in the state,” MHA sources said.