Guwahati: A week after the government outlawed the group under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Delhi Police has detained four members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) (UAPA).
The Monday arrest of four PFI members was verified by a top Delhi Police official.
This is the first time PFI members have been detained since the organisation was outlawed by the federal government on September 28. After the Ministry of Home Affairs’ move, Delhi Police continued to keep an eye on the situation.
The police were informed that some questionable activity was occurring out of these Popular Front of India offices. Following three investigations, the property was taken by the police.
A few days prior, police had filed a UAPA case against PFI at the Shaheen Bagh police station. As a result, Section 8 of the UAPA was applied to PFI’s properties.
In a previous operation, the Delhi Police, working with central authorities, searched 50 premises and detained 32 individuals connected to PFI.
On September 28, the Government of India invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and imposed an immediate five-year ban on PFI and any of its affiliates, partners, or fronts as an unlawful association.
“PFI and its associates or affiliates or fronts operate openly as a socio-economic, educational, and political organization but, they have been pursuing a secret agenda to radicalize a particular section of the society working towards undermining the concept of democracy and show sheer disrespect towards the constitutional authority and constitutional set up of the country,” said the government notification.
The notification had said that PFI and its associates or affiliates or fronts have been indulging in unlawful activities, which are prejudicial to the integrity, sovereignty, and security of the country and have the potential to disturb public peace and communal harmony of the country and support militancy in the country.
It had further said that some of the PFI’s founding members are the leaders of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and PFI has linkages with Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), both of which are proscribed organisations.
There have been several instances of PFI having connections to international terrorist organisations like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The PFI and its associates, affiliates, or fronts have been secretly working to increase the radicalization of one community by instilling a sense of unease in the nation, which is supported by the fact that some PFI cadres have joined international terrorist organisations, according to the notification.
The occurrence occurred a few days after searches were carried out at 93 locations across 15 Indian states, during which more than 100 PFI activists were detained.