National Investigation Agency: The Popular Front of India (PFI), a banned organisation, is now the target of raids by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams in the Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh regions. The searches got under way on Wednesday morning around five.
NIA Expands Operations in Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai, Facing Resistance from Suspect
NIA raids are now taking place in Lucknow, Barabanki, Bahraich, Sitapur, and Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh. Paramilitary and NIA personnel in Lucknow conducted a raid on three homes in the same neighbourhood. Wahid Sheikh’s Mumbai home was also visited by an NIA team. Sheikh is one of the suspects in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings. He demanded that a legal notice be sent first, nevertheless, and would not let the teams inside.
Mumbai Suspect Alleges Unlawful Entry, Demands Legal Notice
Speaking to India Today, Sheikh said, “These people broke my house’s door and my camera. I asked them for identification proof but was not provided with any. I am ready to cooperate if they produce a legal notice for these searches.” The operations take place months after the NIA filed a chargesheet against 19 people, including 12 members of the outlawed organization’s National Executive Council (NEC).
Union Home Ministry Cites Security Risks and Terrorism Ties
In September of last year, the Union Home Ministry issued a five-year ban on PFI and eight of its partners due to security risks and possible ties to terrorism. The National Development Front (NDF) of Kerala and the Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) joined forces in 2006 to establish the PFI. PFI cadres have been involved in numerous killings and violent assaults around the nation since the organization’s founding.
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