Kerala Police raid shops, houses in Kannur over suspected PFI links
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Kannur: Amid the nationwide crackdown on the Popular Front of India, the Kerala Police on Sunday conducted raids at houses, shops, and establishments owned by members of the organisation, and seized various electronic devices, including mobile phones and laptops.
The raids, led by Kannur DCP K Ratnakumar, began at 5 pm and lasted for over two hours, police said.
The Kannur city police conducted raids on the houses of PFI leaders. Pappinisseri, Valapattanam, Iritti, Mattannur, and Kannapuram police stations also conducted raids in their jurisdictions.
Various shopping establishments, including hypermarkets and readymade shops, in Kannur town were raided by the police.
At Valapattanam, the police raided one Akshaya Kendra, a godown, and another trade establishment.
Police have also directed the shop and establishment owners to report to them Monday morning. Police said the details of the bank accounts were obtained to probe whether they were receiving funds from foreign countries.
In near-simultaneous raids across the country, a multi-agency operation spearheaded by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had on September 22 led to the arrest of 106 activists of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in 11 states for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country.
The NIA had said that the documents seized during the nationwide raids contained incriminating material targeting prominent leaders of a particular community.
The PFI in Kerala called a statewide hartal on September 23 in protest aginst the crackdown.
Many went on a rampage in different parts of Kerala during the dawn-to-dusk hartal, damaging state-run buses and ambulances, injuring policemen and commoners.