In the early hours of Thursday morning, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Enforcement Directorate (ED), and police of 13 states conducted raids on PFI-SDPI leadership. The operations were successful, and the accused were caught off guard by the enforcement authorities.
Dinkar Gupta, the director general of the NIA, Sanjay Mishra, and the concerned state police chiefs gave the order to knock on the doors of PFI-SDPI leadership for terror-related activities at 3.30 am.
45 suspects were apprehended by the NIA in five FIRs pertaining to PFI-SDPI. All of these instances have been reported under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which suggests that the central government may take much greater action over the PFI. Up to 106 suspects were apprehended, and the rest will probably be detained.
Also Read: China: 27 killed in quarantine bus crash in Beijing
Amit Shah, the union home minister, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the director general of NIA, and the heads of two intelligence agencies all reviewed the nationwide operation. The raids were carried out after the Intelligence Bureau prepared thorough dossiers and studied the funding patterns of the purported socio-religious organisation from west Asia.
In 15 states, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal, Bihar, and Manipur, the NIA claimed that 93 places were used for the “searches.”
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal, Bihar, and Manipur are the breakdown of locations in these cities. The NIA claimed to have detained 45 individuals in all.
According to NIA, the PFI and its leaders and members have been the target of numerous criminal cases that have been filed by various states in recent years due to their involvement in numerous violent crimes.
Also Read: Mamata Banerjee alleges BJP workers behind Kolkata violence
“Criminal violent acts carried out by PFI, such as the chopping off of a college professor’s hand, the cold-blooded killing of people connected to organisations that espouse the other faiths, the gathering of explosives to target prominent people and places, support for the Islamic State, and destruction of public property have had a demonstrable effect of striking terror in the minds of the citizens,” NIA stated.
Incriminating papers, money, razor-sharp objects, and several digital gadgets were all seized during the searches.
