On Tuesday, the Popular Front of India (PFI) members issued open threats to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members in the state of Karnataka ahead of the Hindu festival of Dussehra. “We will be back with a vengeance. Watch out for us”, the members of the radical Islamist group scribbled a message directed toward RSS workers on the streets of Dakshina Kannada district.
This is days after the Central Government banned the extremist terrorist organisation and its associate organisations for 5 years. The government maintained that the organisations operated as unlawful associations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The affiliates banned along with the PFI include 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.
The ban came following two rounds of searches by the NIA in a multi-agency investigation against the organisation for allegedly sponsoring terror operations in the nation. The initial series of raids occurred on September 22, with a follow-up on Tuesday, September 27 in multiple states, resulting in the arrest of at least 250 persons associated with PFI.
According to the reports, the PFI jihadis wrote a message for the RSS leaders on Monday night when nobody could spot them. However, the message was visible on Tuesday morning after which the members of the Hindu Jagarna association requested the cops to take action against the miscreants behind this incident.
The RSS and its member have always been the targets of PFI. Earlier, the Central Government had awarded ‘Y’ category protection to five RSS officials from Kerala following a warning from central intelligence services about the possible danger to their lives from PFI.
Recently, amidst the two NIA rounds of raids on PFI, the terrorist organization happened to hurl petrol bombs at the RSS office in Mattannur. Also, the Maharashtra ATS on September 26 confirmed that the RSS headquarters in Nagpur and several top BJP leaders were on the radar of the PFI.
The NIA officials during the raids recovered several incriminating materials from the PFI hubs located in around 17 states of the country.
A huge amount of undocumented cash was also recovered from the PFI hideouts in Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu and also documents on a ‘short course on how to make IEDs using easily available materials’. Meanwhile, pen drives containing videos related to ISIS, and Ghazwa-e-Hind were found from the Uttar Pradesh PFI leadership and Marine radio sets from Tamil Nadu PFI leadership. Many other materials including wireless communication devices were also taken into custody by the officials.