E-Paper
NIA attaches one of PFI’s largest arms training centres in Kerala
Offices of the PFI and its frontal organisations were functioning from these premises under the guise of educational institutions.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has attached one of the oldest and largest Arms and Physical training Centres belonging to the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) as ‘proceeds of terrorism’ under the provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It is the sixth PFI Arms Training centre and the 18th property linked to the banned outfit to be attached by the NIA in Kerala as part of the agency's ongoing efforts to crackdown on terror activities.
Spread across a vast 10-hectare area in Kerala's Manjeri, the training centre, known as the Green Valley Academy was managed by the 'Green Valley Foundation' (GVF). The property was initially used by the National Development Front's cadres and subsequently by the PFI with which it merged, according to the probe agency.
NIA probe revealed that the PFI utilized this facility for conducting arms training, physical training, and training sessions on the use and testing of explosives for its cadres, specifically those associated with their 'Service Wing'. The centre also allegedly served as a hideout for numerous 'PFI Service Wing' members after they had committed crimes, including acts of murder.
The training centre was also utilized to indoctrinate PFI's trained operatives, cadres, and members with radical and divisive ideological training, promoting the outfit's communal agenda and policies. The premises housed offices of the PFI and its frontal organizations, disguised as educational institutions.
The NIA had previously taken action against five other PFI training centres in Kerala, namely Malabar House, Periyar Valley, Valluvanad House, Karunya Charitable Trust, and Trivandrum Education and Service Trust (TEST). An additional 12 offices used intermittently by the outfit's leadership for organizing arms and physical training, propagating ideologies, and planning various criminal and terrorist activities, have also been attached.
The NIA's investigations have brought to light the PFI's modus operandi, which involves operating such training centres under the guise of charitable and educational trusts, formed by members or leaders of the organization.
The NIA had previously filed a chargesheet on March 17, 2023, charging 59 individuals, including the PFI as an organization.
