PFI had ‘hit teams’ to kill targets, execute orders by its parallel ‘court of justice’: NIA

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has told a special court that the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) had various wings of highly trained cadres to execute orders pronounced by ‘Dar-ul-Qaza’, their own parallel ‘court of justice’.

The agency on Friday filed two separate charge sheets against a total of 68 Popular Front of India (PFI) leaders, cadres and members in Kerala and Tamil Nadu at the special court in Kochi.

The NIA alleged that PFI had units such as the ‘reporters wing’, ‘physical and arms training wing’ and special ‘hit teams’ to carry out orders.

“Whenever required, PFI pressed into service its loyal and highly trained cadres of service teams as executioners of the orders pronounced by the parallel courts,” the chargesheet said.

According to the NIA, the organisation was using its campuses, facilities and infrastructure to impart arms training to the select cadre under the pretext of physical education and yoga training.

“The chargesheets filed in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the two states where the PFI is most active, relate to separate criminal conspiracies hatched by PFI … radicalisation of impressionable Muslim youth, training them in handling weapons, raising of funds for carrying out acts of terror and violence with ultimate objective of establishing Islamic rule in India by 2047,” the statement by NIA said.

The chargesheets are related to the agency’s raids on PFI members in Kerala and other states in September last year.

Following the raids, the Union Home Ministry imposed a ban on the organisation and its associate outfits, including the Rehab India Foundation (RIF) and Campus Front of India, for five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The chargesheet filed in Chennai has named 10 PFI members, including the group’s Tamil Nadu vice president Khalid Mohammed, as accused.

In Kerala, the chargesheet has accused 58 members of the banned outfit and has also connected the case with the murder of Palakkad resident and RSS worker, Sreenivasan, who was hacked to death by armed PFI cadres.

‘The NIA investigations had shown some of the accused in the PFI criminal conspiracy case [September 2022] to have been involved in the Sreenivasan killing too,” said the agency.

The list of accused include the then State PFI general secretary Abdul Sathar, executive member Yahiya Koya Thangal, Ernakulam zonal secretary Shihas M.H., district secretaries/president Sainudhen T.S., Sadik A.P. and C.T. Sulaiman, besides P.K. Usman, the general secretary of then Kerala Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).

The accused have been charged under the UAPA and the Arms Act besides Sections of the IPC.

The NIA had arrested 16 persons after taking over the case in September 2022, while the others were nabbed earlier by the Kerala police.

During the probe, the agency searched over 100 locations in the State and later attached 17 properties which were identified as ‘proceeds of terrorism besides freezing 18 bank accounts of the accused PFI members during the probe.