UP ATS arrests two PFI men, detain 70 during statewide crackdown

The UP ATS has arrested two persons from Varanasi and taken into custody 70 people from 20 districts as part of a fresh crackdown on cadres of the banned PFI.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (UP-ATS) has arrested two ‘wanted’ persons from Varanasi and taken into custody 70 people from 20 districts as part of a fresh crackdown on cadres of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), senior police officials said on Sunday.

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Parvez Ahmad and Raees Ahmad, both of whom carried a reward of ₹50,000each on their heads, were nabbed in Varanasi on Saturday, senior director general (SDG), law and order, Prashant Kumar said in a note on Sunday.

The two men, who were in a case registered at Lohta police station of Varanasi in 2022, were booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.) and 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration). Sections under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were also invoked in the FIR, the SDG said.

Additional director general (ADG) of UP-ATS Naveen Arora said the two accused were propagating PFI’s ideology and expanding the body’s cadre base in the country.

The ADG said 30 ATS teams took part in the statewide raids on alleged PFI members on Saturday.

At least 11 people were detained for questioning in Shamli and 10 in Ghaziabad. Similarly, nine others were taken into custody in Lucknow, eight in Varanasi, five in Bijnor, four in Meerut, three each in Barabanki, Azamgarh and Muzaffarnagar, two each in Bahraich, Deoria and Kanpur and one each in Sitapur, Balrampur, Siddarthnagar, Bulandshahr, Saharanpur, Moradadbad, Rampur and Amroha.

The ADG said these people were being interrogated and their social media activities analysed.