New Delhi, Sep 22: A major multi-agency crackdown led by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was launched against the PFI on Thursday with 106 of its activists being arrested after raids at 93 locations across 15 states in India.
NIA alone arrested 45 PFI activists who, officials said, will be booked under the stringent UAPA. They are accused of indulging in ‘unlawful activities promoting enmity among communities’ and ‘waging a war against the country’.NIA conducted raids at 93 locations in 15 states including Kerala (39 locations), Tamil Nadu (16), Karnataka (12), Andhra Pradesh (7), Telangana (1), UP (2), Rajasthan (4), Delhi (2), Assam (1), MP (1), Maharashtra (4) Goa (1), West Bengal (1), Bihar (1) and Manipur (1).
The agency has registered five cases under which all the arrests have been made. As per the latest inputs, the NIA has been given four-day custody of all PFI activists arrested in Delhi after multi-agency raids against the organisation in the city.Meanwhile, in Mumbai, a court Thursday remanded five PFI activists in the custody of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad. The ATS arrested a total of 20 PFI activists from various places in the state on Thursday as part of the nationwide multi-agency operation. Five of them were produced before a court here with the ATS seeking their custody for 14 days. The court, however, remanded them in the probe agency’s custody for five days.
In Maharashtra, raids were conducted by ATS teams in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Aurangabad, Pune, Kolhapur, Beed, Parbhani, Nanded, Malegaon (in Nashik district) and Jalgaon, an official said.
The anti-terror agency registered offences in Mumbai, Nashik, Aurangabad and Nanded under Indian Penal Code sections including 153-A (wantingly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 121A (conspiring to commit certain offences against the State) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), and provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
