On Saturday, the Assam Police detained three leaders of the banned groups Campus Front of India (CFI) and Popular Front of India (PFI) in Barpeta. The Police also recovered the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) pamphlet, four mobile phones, and Rs 1.50 lakh in cash from their possession.
The arrested accused belonging to CFI and PFI have been identified as Zahidul Islam, Zakir Hussain, and Abu Sama. According to the reports, two radicals belonging to the PFI who were arrested from Assam’s Barpeta district on April 8 will be produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate’s (CJM) court today. Meanwhile, one member of CFI was arrested from the Barpeta Road railway station on April 6.
Police arrested three leaders of banned organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) and Campus Front of India (CFI) in Assam’s Barpeta district. The arrested PFI and CFI leaders were identified as Jakir Hussain, he is also the State Secretary of PFI, Abu Sama and CFI National…
— ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2023
The PFI Assam State Committee is reportedly led by Samad Ahmed, whereas the CFI Assam Committee is led by Jahidul Islam, who is the resident of Sanbari village of Govardhana in the Baksa district. Zakir Hussain apparently acts as the state committee’s secretary.
The arrest was confirmed by Hiren Nath, ADGP (SB), Assam Police who said, “Police arrested three persons of PFI and CFI including PFI’s Assam unit secretary and CFI’s national treasurer from Barpeta district.”
“The arrested PFI and CFI leaders were identified as Jakir Hussain, he is also the State Secretary of PFI, Abu Sama and CFI National Treasurer Sahidul Islam. Police also recovered cash of Rs 1.50 lakh, four mobile phones, pamphlet of SDPI in possession from them,” he added.
Meanwhile Superintendent of Police Amitabh Sinha stated to the New Indian Express that these PFI and CFI leaders had been hiding in different places across the country after fleeing from Assam. ”The three PFI and CFI leaders will be produced before the Barpeta Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court today. However, the police will seek custody of the three top leaders for the investigation,” he added.
The Delhi High Court’s Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, who chairs the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act Tribunal (UAPA Tribunal), supported the Union government’s move to impose a five-year ban on PFI and its associate groups last month.
The Ministry of Home Affairs in September last year issued a notification banning the Islamist organization named Popular Front of India and its affiliate organizations. The MHA stated that the organizations including All India Imams Council, Campus Front of India (CFI), Rehab India Foundation, National Conf of Human Rights Org, National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation, and Rehab Foundation, Kerala operated unlawfully and needed to be banned under UAPA.
The ban on the PFI came after two rounds of searches by the NIA in a multi-agency investigation against the organization for sponsoring terror operations in the nation. The NIA officials also recovered several incriminating materials from the PFI hubs located in around 17 states of the country back then. Prominent among them include a brochure and CD related to ‘Mission 2047’.
Further, a huge amount of undocumented cash was also recovered from the PFI leaders of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and also document in a ‘short course on how to make IEDs using easily available materials’. Meanwhile, pen drives containing videos related to ISIS, and Gajwa-e-Hind were found from the Uttar Pradesh PFI leadership and Marine radio sets from Tamil Nadu PFI leadership. Many such other materials including wireless communication devices were taken into custody by the official.
