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NIA arrests former PFI state secretary from Kerala for ‘unlawful activities’
Rauf, a resident of Chappangathodi House, Karimpulli, in Palakkad, had been absconding for several months, in connection with the Kerala PFI case.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested Kerala general secretary of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) CA Rauf, the 13th accused, from his house at Pattambi in Palakkad.
Rauf, a resident of Chappangathodi House, Karimpulli, in Palakkad, had been absconding for several months, in connection with the Kerala PFI case.
The NIA said that the accused was the state secretary of the now-banned PFI and was handling its media and PR wings in Kerala and is one of the main conspirators in the case.
Rauf along with other PFI office bearers, members and affiliates in Kerala have been allegedly found conspiring to indulge in unlawful activities, such as creating enmity between members of different religions and groups, and carrying out activities prejudicial to communal harmony with the intention to disrupt public peace and tranquillity and cause disaffection against India, the NIA said.
“They have also been found propagating alternative justice delivery systems justifying the use of criminal force resulting in alarm and fear amongst the people, encouraging vulnerable youth to join terrorist organisations, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)/Daesh and Al-Qaida and the conspiracy to establish Islamic rule in India by committing terrorist acts as a part of violent jihad,” the central agency said.
The agency said further investigations into the case were underway.
The arrest was made almost a month after the Centre declared the PFI an 'unlawful association' and banned it for the next five years, as well as directed all states and the Union Territories (UTs) to "exercise" powers of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the outfit and its affiliates.
In September, more than 100 PFI cadres were arrested in multiple raids carried out across the country by the NIA, the Enforcement Directorate and state agencies as well as police forces based on findings about a number of "instances of international linkages of PFI with Global Terrorist Groups like Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)".
The PFI and its associates are also charged with working covertly to increase the radicalisation of one community by promoting a sense of insecurity in the country, which is substantiated by the fact that some PFI cadres have joined international terrorist organisations.
The PFI is further accused of its involvement in several criminal and terror cases as well as sheer disrespect towards the constitutional authority of the country.
