Hyderabad: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested four Popular Front of India (PFI) from Telangana and AP in connection with a case booked by the law enforcement agency on August 26 this year.
The arrested persons from Telangana are Sameer (Bodhan), Feroz (Adilabad), Mohd Irfan (State president of PFI and resident of Jagitial) and one Ilyas is a native of Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh. All of the PFI members were produced before the court and remanded.
The NIA had issued notices to ten persons after raiding the offices of PFI in Telangana and AP a day earlier. According to sources, nine of them appeared before the agency at their office at Madhapur to join the investigation.
The Telangana police, after booking PFI, had already arrested Sadullah, Imran, Abdul Khader and Abdul Mobin in connection with the case booked at the Nizamabad VI town police station on July 4.
The NIA re-registered a case on August 26 and took up the investigation. The agency on Sunday conducted searches at 38 locations in Telangana including 23 in Nizamabad (where a case is booked against many cadres), Hyderabad 4 places, Jagtiyal 7 places, Nirmal 2 and Adilabad and Karimnagar one each. In Andhra Pradesh, the NIA conducted searches in Kurnool and Nellore.
BJP’s attempt to spread hate: PFI on NIA raids in Telangana, AP
Following the detention of four members from the Popular Front of India (PFI) under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Telangana’s PFI president Abdul Rafeeq Rashadi said that it was an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to spread its “anti-Muslim propaganda” in the south.
“Is it a crime to teach martial arts? The man named Abdul Khader has been running Karate classes for the past 30 years, and he was not teaching anything objectionable,” said Abdul Rafeeq Rashadi, state president of PFI.
On July 4 this year, a case was registered at Nizamabad town Police Station in Telangana against PFI members. During investigations by the state police, officials identified four accused namely, Abdul Kader, Sheikh Sahadulla, Mohammed Imran, and Abdul Mobin. They were arrested by Telangana Police. Later, the case was re-registered by the NIA on August 26.
Abdul Rafeeq stated that Abdul Khader had no links to PFI, and the documents found with him had nothing to do with the organisation either. “Among the arrested, only Saadullah is a member of the organisation. the documents found in Khader’s house are completely fabricated,” he said.
The PFI leader said that the NIA conducted raids late at night. He added that the state secretary Irfan was raided late at night, and it was a very scary experience for him, his wife and children. “Is this the proper way? They did not give notice before conducting these raids. If they had, PFI members would have peacefully co-operated,” he said.
“Telangana is a secular state. I implore KCR and KTR to acknowledge what is happening and not spoil the Ganga Jamuna Tehzeeb in the state. This is illegal harassment,” he said.
Upon being asked why only PFI was singled out of the many minority-run organisations, Abdul Rafeeq said, “Perhaps it is because we are doing great work. PFI’s goals are social work, legal support, teaching moral values and speaking up about minority issues,” he said.
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