PFI stir sparks clashes, Kerala HC takes note | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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PFI stir sparks clashes, Kerala HC takes note

ByRamesh Babu and Divya Chandrababu, Thiruvananthapuram/chennai
Sep 24, 2022 07:49 AM IST

Functionaries of the controversial Islamic outfit issued a shutdown call after government agencies and police forces raided PFI premises across 15 states and one Union territory in the early hours of Thursday, arresting 108 functionaries on charges of terror funding, radicalisation, and hate crimes.

Violent clashes and stone-pelting roiled the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala on Friday as members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) damaged buses and shops, attacked policemen and hurled crude bombs, prompting the Kerala high court to issue a warning.

Thiruvananthapuram: Police personnel take stock of the damages done to a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus after some miscreants threw stones on it, during the 'hartal' called by PFI.(PTI)
Thiruvananthapuram: Police personnel take stock of the damages done to a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus after some miscreants threw stones on it, during the 'hartal' called by PFI.(PTI)

Functionaries of the controversial Islamic outfit issued a shutdown call after government agencies and police forces raided PFI premises across 15 states and one Union territory in the early hours of Thursday, arresting 108 functionaries on charges of terror funding, radicalisation, and hate crimes.

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The maximum impact was felt in Kerala, where PFI was founded in 2006 and from where the maximum number of arrests were made on Thursday. Masked men went on a rampage in many cities, burning tyres on roads, blocking vehicles and forcefully shutting the shutters of shops.

Around 70 government-controlled buses were damaged in different parts of the state, crude bombs were hurled at several places, and a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) office was attacked in Kannur. A PFI member was held with a live bomb in Kannur, and 200 workers were arrested in connection with the unprecedented violence. Stones were hurled at ambulances in Kozhikode and Thrissur districts, and 12 bus passengers and six drivers were injured across the state.

“500 people have been arrested in connection with that and 400 more have been put under preventive detention in connection with a hartal (strike) called by PFI,” said additional director general of police (ADGP), law and order, Vijay Sakhare.

Hours after the violence broke out, the high court took cognisance of the clashes for violating a 2019 directive against instant shutdowns and asked police to book PFI state secretary A Abubaker. “The action of the aforementioned persons in calling for the hartal without following the procedure contemplated in our earlier order, prima facie, amounts to contempt,” the bench of justices Jayasankaran Nambiar and CP Mohammad Nias said, adding it will initiate suo motu contempt proceedings against the office-bearers of the outfit.

In Tamil Nadu, the industrial town of Coimbatore — a PFI stronghold — was rocked by violence as unidentified people damaged four vehicles, two of which belonged to members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and right-wing group, Hindu Munnani. On Thursday night, petrol bombs were hurled near the BJP office in Coimbatore. Stone-pelting was also reported from various places.

“A few suspects have been brought in and we have been questioning them since last night but we haven’t zeroed in on one accused yet,” said a senior police official in Coimbatore, not wishing to be named. “Analysis of CCTV footage is going on. For each incident we have three teams looking into it.”

The raids on Thursday were conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), in coordination with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and state police forces, in what some officials described as the largest-ever crackdown on the organisation that has gained notoriety in recent years, especially in southern India.

The raids and arrests were made in connection with five cases registered by NIA in Delhi, Kochi and Hyderabad this year, following inputs and evidence that PFI leaders and cadre were allegedly involved in funding of terrorism and terrorist activities, organising training camps for providing armed training and radicalising people to join banned organisations, the federal anti-terror agency said in a statement.

Founded in 2006, PFI quickly spread its influence in the country with offices in 22 states — from Kerala to Manipur. The outfit came under the scrutiny of central agencies about a decade ago. Since then, senior functionaries have been charged in over a dozen cases. In 14 cases probed by the NIA, 355 people were charge-sheeted and 46 convicted.

In Kerala, violence started early in the morning, when crude bombs were hurled at a private van carrying newspapers in Kannur, a hotbed of political clashes between right-wing and left-wing groups. A PFI member carrying petrol bombs were arrested by the police in the same district. In Kozhikode, a 15-year-old girl and an auto driver were injured when their vehicle was hit by stones, police said. In Kollam, two policemen were injured after bike-borne assailants hit them with their vehicle.

Police resorted to lathi charge in Kottayam after unidentified men attempted to enforce a shutdown of shops. Bombs were hurled at the RSS office in Mattanur in Kannur. In Payyanur, four PFI members were injured after local people resisted their move to enforce a shutdown and beat them up. In Kozhikode, protestors attacked reporters.

Visuals showed protestors pelting stones at Kerala State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses in Wayanad district. KSRTC buses were also attacked in Kozhikode, Kochi, Alappuzha and Kollam. The body later made an appeal on social media requesting protestors to spare buses and employees. A photo of a KSRTC driver wearing a helmet while driving the bus went viral on social media.

State police chief Anil Kant said strict action will be taken against those who destroyed public properties. “Situation is under control now. Police will not spare anyone,” he said. Masked men attacked shops in Kozhikode, Kottayam and Ernakulam districts.

A truck driver on his way to Erode in Tamil Nadu suffered severe injuries in stone-pelting in Kozhikode. “They attacked us deliberately with an intention to destroy the lorry. The vehicle was parked on the roadside when they came and attacked it. I went to a private hospital for first aid and now I am going to the government hospital for a detailed check-up,” the driver said.

The violence also took a political turn with the BJP alleging that the Left government stopped the police from cracking down on protesters. “The government sacrificed the rule of law at the altar of vote bank politics. In most places police remained mute spectators when PFI activists unleashed violence,” BJP state chief K Surendran said.

In Tamil Nadu, state BJP president K Annamalai said that people are watching how the law and order is deteriorating every day. “This will only strengthen our resolve to fight hard against these very forces who are inimical to our society and country,” Annamalai said.

In the high court, the division bench directed the police to take strict action against violators of an earlier court order banning such strikes. It also sought a detailed report from the police about destruction of public property. In 2019, the court had banned “flash hartals” on the grounds that they violate the fundamental rights of those who do not align with the cause of those calling for the shutdown and mandated a seven-day notice period for any protest.

“We, therefore, deem it necessary to once again request the media to ensure that whenever such illegal flash hartals are called for, and it is apparent that the said hartal called is in violation of the orders passed by this court, the public be duly informed of the said fact,” the bench observed.

In Coimbatore, police said they were analysing CCTV footage. “With the incidents happening over the past 24 hours our department has increased security in Coimbatore city. To maintain peace, vehicles entering all checkposts are being thoroughly searched,” V Balakrishnan, Coimbatore city commissioner told reporters. “Today, we have installed new CCTV cameras in some check posts. We have registered cases against all the incidents that have happened. Soon, the accused will be arrested.”

(With agency inputs)

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