Assam Police register 16 cases against Popular Front of India (PFI)

Popular Front of India (PFI)
Image Courtesy:indiatvnews.com

On June 4, 2022 the Assam Police have registered 16 cases against Popular Front of India (PFI) for their alleged links with the Bangladesh based Islamic terror group Ansarullah Bangladesh Team (ABT).

Additional Director General of Police (Special Branch) Hiren Nath reportedly said, “On April 15, we registered a case in Barpeta district in which some (16) ABT activists were arrested. One of them was Maqibul Hussain. We have found evidence that PFI has close links with Bangladesh-based terror group Ansarullah Bangla Team. According to the police version reported in the Sentinel, Assam, during the interrogation, Hussain “admitted” that he was the president of PFI of Barpeta district. Before joining Ansarullah Bangla Team he was actively working for PFI in the lower Assam, but later resigned to join the said group where he was trained by Mehdi Hasan.”

A report in the Business Standard, quoted Nath saying, “One of the modus operandi of this group or the workers is that anything happening anywhere in the country which does not even have any connection with Assam–may be some Hijab issue or some temples, mosques– they will demonstrate it here, especially in the lower Assam region, including Guwahati city, Goalpara, Barpeta, Baksa, Dhubri and some parts of the Barak Valley. They are provoking people and it is very dangerous for the country.” He reportedly added, “We have recovered some printing materials printed in Bengali and Arabic, that contained literature teaching Jihad, how to do Jihad, how to attract people to Jihad, what are the requirements for the Jihadi, and all these things. We are investigating it all. If anyone tries to disturb the social peace and tranquility, or take the law into their hands, we will take very strong action against them.”

It is to be noted that the police have also registered two more cases against PFI’s student wing Campus Front of India (CFI). The state Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been reportedly urging the Centre to ban PFI and CFI organizations.

Interestingly, DGP Nath had also offered help to Uttar Pradesh police with respect to the recent clashes in Kanpur which broke out between two groups belonging to different communities.

Violence had broken out in Kanpur city of Uttar Pradesh after weekly Friday prayers as members of the minority community clashed with police in reaction to the police lathi-charging some locals. According to other reports, the violence broke out in the Becongunj area near Yatimkhana after police baton-charged some locals. Hundreds of people had taken to the streets in protest.

Media reports stated that violence broke out after a local community leader had called for shops in the area to be closed in the area to “protest” the objectionable remarks by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Mohammed. The few outfits belonging to the Hindu majority feared isolation and an attack by Muslims on the street and hence brick and stone throwing broke out. This was brought under control by the police. Unconfirmed reports said that a ‘bandh” call has now been given. Meanwhile, several arrests have been made in Kanpur.