New Delhi : The National Investigative Agency (NIA), in its charge-sheet against 20 PFI members, said the organisation was working with the intention to strike terror in the society and create fear among the people and to establish Islamic rule in India by 2047
The case pertains to the murder of BJP's Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Nettaru on July 26, 2022 in Bellare village of Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district. The chargesheet was filed on Friday before a Special Court in Bengaluru.
As part of its agenda to create terror, communal hatred and unrest in society and to further its agenda of establishing Islamic rule in India by 2047, the banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) formed secret teams called 'Service Teams' or 'Killer Squads' to carry out killings of its 'perceived enemies' and targets, ANI reported quoting the chargesheet.
The charge sheet, which was filed against 20 PFI members, further mentions that "these 'Service Team' members were given arms as well attack training and surveillance techniques training in order to identify, list out and to mount surveillance on individuals and leaders belonging to certain communities and groups.
These 'Service Team' members were further trained to assault and kill identified targets on the instructions of senior PFI leaders. The head of district Service Team Mustafa Paichar was instructed to gather recce, identify and target a prominent member of a particular community.
As per instructions, four persons were identified. Nettaru, who was among them, was killed in full public view with lethal weapons to create terror among the people at large and especially among members of a particular community, it said.
Of the 20 chargesheeted PFI members, six are absconding and rewards have been declared for information leading to their arrest in the case. The accused persons have been charge-sheeted under various sections of 120B, 153A, 302 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 16, 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and Section 25(1)(a) of Arms Act.
Mahammed Shiyab, Abdul Basheer, Riyaz, Mustafa Paichar, Masud KA, Kodaje Mohammed Sherif, Abubakkar Siddik, Noufal M, Ismail Shafi K, K Mahammad Iqbal, Shaheed M, Mahammad Shafeek G, Ummar Farook M R, Abdul Kabeer CA, Muhammad Ibrahim Sha, Sainul Abid Y, Shekh Saddam Hussain, Zakiar A, N Abdul Haris, Thufail MH have been chargesheeted in the case.
Among the chargesheeted accused, Mustafa Paichar, Masud KA, Kodaje Mohammed Sherif, Abubakkar Siddik, Ummar Farook MR and Thufail MH are currently absconding and rewards have been declared for information leading to their arrest.
The case was initially registered on July 27 at Bellare Police Station of Dakshina Kannada district and re-registered by the NIA on August 4 last year. The Home Ministry in September banned the PFI, its associates, and affiliates for a period of five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 by declaring it as an unlawful association.
Besides involvement in Nettaru's murder, the PFI cadres are accused of being involved in terror acts including the murders of several persons, including Sanjith (Kerala, November 2021), V Ramalingam (Tamil Nadu, 2019), Nandu (Kerala, 2021), Abhimanyu (Kerala, 2018), Bibin (Kerala, 2017), Sharath (Kamataka, 2017), R Rudresh (Kamataka, 2016), Praveen Puyari (Karnataka, 2016), and Sasi Kumar (Tamil Nadu, 2016).
