PFI crackdown: NIA files chargesheet against 19 more

With the filing of chargesheet in the Delhi case on March 19, the total number of accused chargesheeted in PFI cases across the country by NIA now stands at 105

In its fifth chargesheet this month against the Popular Front of India (PFI), the NIA filed charges against 19 people, including 12 National Executive Council (NEC) members of the banned outfit, for their alleged involvement in a conspiracy to wage a war for establishing an Islamic Caliphate in the country, an official said.

With the filing of chargesheet in the Delhi case on March 19, the total number of accused chargesheeted in PFI cases across the country by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) now stands at 105, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.

The PFI was formed in 2006 with the merger of National Development front (NDF) of Kerala and Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) with Oma Salam becoming its Chairman, E. M. Abdul Rahiman Vice-chairman, V. P. Nazaruddin National Secretary, Anees Ahmed the national general secretary of the NEC, the top decision-making body in the outfit.

The 19 accused chargesheeted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act included Salam, Rahiman, Nazaruddin, Ahmed, Afsar Pasha, E Abubacker, Prof P Koya, and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the spokesperson said.

Abdul Wahid Sait, A S Ismail, Mohd Yusuf, Mohammed Basheer, Shafeer K P, Jaseer K P, Shahid Nasir, Waseem Ahmed, Mohammed Shakif, Muhammed Farooq Ur Rahman, and Yasar Arafat alias "Yasir Hasan" were some other key position holders in the NEC named in the chargesheet, the official said.

They were arrested in September last year following a nationwide crackdown at 39 locations, including PFI offices, across the country after the group was banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"The case, under investigation since April 2022, had revealed that a criminal conspiracy was hatched by the PFI to divide the country on communal lines. It has also come to light that the ultimate objective of the conspiracy was to overthrow the existing system of secular and democratic governance in India and replace it with an Islamic Caliphate," the spokesperson said.