PFI’s state president, secretary arrested

The Delhi police on Thursday said they have arrested the Popular Front of India’s (PFI) Delhi president, Parvez Ahmed and its secretary, Mohammad Illiyas, for their

The Delhi police on Thursday said they have arrested the Popular Front of India’s (PFI) Delhi president, Parvez Ahmed and its secretary, Mohammad Illiyas, for their alleged role in the Delhi riots.

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“The two office bearers of the PFI have been arrested for funding the riots and for their conspiracy in the crime. They had incited the rioters and hatched a conspiracy to carry out the riots. There is evidence against them,” a senior officer of the special cell said while requesting anonymity.

The officer said that the communication between the two arrested men with some political leaders too was under probe.

With this, the total number of PFI members arrested for the Delhi riots has gone up to three. On Monday, the special cell had said that they had arrested another PFI member, Mohammad Danish, for spreading false propaganda during anti-CAA protests.

Reacting to the latest arrests, Anis Ahmed, the PFI’s general secretary, said that it was an attempt to malign the party and that the allegations were “totally fabricated”.

“We had earlier issued a statement saying that such allegations would be made against us. It is nothing new. Similar baseless allegations against our office bearers were made in Uttar Pradesh and they were arrested, but the police couldn’t prove anything. It will be the same situation here too,” he said.

He said that the PFI was being targeted to save the real culprits, but the organisation wouldn’t step back. “We will be using legal and democratic means to get justice,” he said.