Barpeta (Assam): Police have arrested two top leaders of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and one leader of Campus Front of India (CFI) from Assam's Barpeta district. Police have also recovered cash amounting to Rs 1.50 lakh, four mobile phones and a pamphlet of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDFI) from the three leaders. Further investigation is on, police said.
The PFI leaders, who are said to have been hiding in Delhi for the past several months, were arrested from Barpeta Railway station, officials told on Friday. The arrested PFI leaders, identified as Zakir Hussain (34) and Abu Samad Ahmed (54) are the outfit's state committee president and secretary respectively. On the other hand, the arrested CFI leader has been identified as Zahidul Islam (30) and is the president of the organisation's state committee. The arrests were made as part of Assam Police's ongoing crackdown on the organisations.
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Earlier, in November 2022, a student wing leader of PFI was arrested from Bengaluru. The youth had absconded ever since the National Investigation Agency (NIA) launched a crackdown on the organisation last year. In September 2022, the Union government had declared PFI as unlawful under section 3 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and imposed a five-year-ban on it along with its affiliate organisations including CFI, Rehab India Foundation (RIF), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Women's Front (NWF), National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO), Junior Front, Rehab Foundation Kerala and Empower India Foundation. Last month, the UAPA Tribunal had upheld the ban. More than 150 people were detained for their alleged links with the PFI last year.
