Pune cops rule out 'pro-Pak' slogans during PFI stir

Earlier, Pune police had registered cases against 60 to 70 protestors for gathering without permission to protest against the raids conducted by NIA and ATS on the offices of Popular Front of India (PFI) in 11 states across the country, wherein some people were also arrested.

Pune: Pune Police ruled out “pro-Pakistan slogans” during the protests outside the District Collector's office on Friday in Pune City where PFI cadres gathered against the recent ED-CBI-Police raids against their outfit. Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta and Deputy Commissioner of Police Sagar Patil clarified that no such slogans were shouted.

The Commissioner has also appealed to people not to spread such rumors. The clarification comes amid purported videos showing the pro-PFI protestors shouting pro-Pakistan slogans. Earlier, Pune police had registered cases against 60 to 70 protestors for gathering without permission to protest against the raids conducted by NIA and ATS on the offices of Popular Front of India (PFI) in 11 states across the country, wherein some people were also arrested.

Police detained 41 of these protesters during their agitation held outside the Pune district collectorate on Friday. The PFI, formed in 2006, claims to strive for a neo-social movement ostensibly for the empowerment of marginalized sections of India and is often accused by law enforcement agencies of promoting radical Islam.

A case has been registered in the Bund Garden police station in this regard by police constable Navnath Dange. "We have registered an offense against more than 60 persons, including 41 who were detained yesterday, for organizing a protest without permission, for unlawful assembly, and for blocking the road," senior inspector Pratap Mankar of Bundgarden police station said.

The police had earlier given a notice to the organizers not to hold any protest, but they did not follow the order, he added. An offense was registered against the protesters under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 141, 143,145, 147,149 (all pertaining to unlawful assembly), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), and 341 (wrongful restraint), and also under sections of the Maharashtra Police Act.

Maharashtra and Karnataka accounted for 20 arrests each, Tamil Nadu (10), Assam (9), Uttar Pradesh (8), Andhra Pradesh (5), Madhya Pradesh (4), Puducherry and Delhi (3 each), and Rajasthan (2).