Delhi Police arrests 4 more PFI members after PFI ban

Digital Desk: The Delhi Police detained four members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) a week after the government banned the organisation under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

A senior Delhi Police official confirmed the arrest of four PFI members on Monday.

It is the first arrest of PFI members since the organisation was banned by the central government on September 28. Following the Ministry of Home Affairs' intervention, Delhi Police was constantly monitoring the situation.

The authorities received information that some suspicious operations were being carried out from these Popular Front of India offices. The authorities then conducted three separate investigations and seized the property.

A few days prior, police had filed a UAPA case against PFI at the Shaheen Bagh police station. As a result, Section 8 of the UAPA was applied to PFI's assets.

In a previous operation, the Delhi Police, working with central authorities, searched 50 premises and detained 32 individuals connected to PFI.

On September 28, the Government of India invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and imposed an immediate five-year ban on PFI and any of its affiliates, partners, or fronts as an unlawful association.

According to the government notification, "PFI and its associates, affiliates, or fronts operate openly as a socio-economic, educational, and political organisation, but they have been pursuing a secret agenda to radicalise a specific segment of the society working to undermine the concept of democracy and show sheer disrespect towards the constitutional authority and constitutional set up of the country."

According to the notification, PFI and its affiliates and fronts have been engaging in illegal actions that threaten the integrity, sovereignty, and security of the nation. 

These activities also have the potential to undermine the country's public peace and communal harmony and support militancy.

It further stated that the PFI had connections to Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which is also a banned organisation, and that some of its founding members are SIMI leaders, another banned organisation.

There have been several instances of PFI having connections to international terrorist organisations like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). 

The PFI and its associates, affiliates, or fronts have been secretly working to increase the radicalization of one community by instilling a sense of unease in the nation, which is supported by the fact that some PFI cadres have joined international terrorist organisations, according to the notification.

The incident occurred a few days after searches were carried out at 93 locations across 15 Indian states, during which more than 100 PFI activists were detained.