Ashish Ranjan
In addition to criminal conspiracy, the NIA included in its Kerala chargesheet the related case of the barbaric murder of a Palakkad resident, Sreenivasan, by armed PFI members.
In the two chargesheets filed today, various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967, and the Arms Act of 1959 were used to charge the defendants.
In the September 2022 Kerala case, the Special Court for NIA Cases in Ernakulam has filed a chargesheet against the PFI as an organisation and 58 other accused persons. After taking over the case in 2022, the NIA apprehended sixteen of the accused, while the remainder were apprehended by Kerala Police.
The Kerala Chargesheet was submitted after the NIA conducted searches at over one hundred locations throughout the state. During the course of its investigation, the NIA has also attached 17 properties deemed to be “proceeds of terrorism” and seized 18 bank accounts belonging to the accused.
Investigations in the case revealed that the accused conspired to drive a wedge between different communities and groups residing in India, to spread the concept of violent extremism and Jihad in India, and to establish Islamic Rule in India by 2047, according to the chargesheet.
PFI established various Wings and divisions, such as the ‘Reporters Wing,’ the ‘Physical and Arms Training Wing,’ and the ‘Service Teams,’ to accomplish these goals. Under the pretext of Physical Education, Yoga Training, etc., the NIA discovered that PFI was using its various Campuses, facilities, and infrastructure to provide arms training to selected cadres.
To eradicate their “targets,” they also established a “Reporters Wing” and “Service Teams or Hit Teams.” As ‘executors’ of the Orders pronounced by their parallel Courts, referred to as ‘Dar-ul-Qaza’, PFI pressed into service its loyal and highly trained personnel of their ‘Service Teams’ when necessary.
Abdul Sathar State General Secretary, Yahiya Koya Thangal State Executive Member (SEC) Member, Shihas MH Ernakulam Zonal Secretary, along with District Secretaries/President Sainudhen TS, Sadik AP, CT Sulaiman, and PK Usman State General Secretary SDPI Kerala are among the prominent PFI leaders and office bearers charged today.
In the Tamil Nadu case, the Chargesheet submitted to the NIA Special Court in Chennai lists ten defendants, including Khalid Mohammed, State Vice President of PFI. This case was also opened in September 2022, when the NIA arrested nine of the defendants. Several months later, the tenth suspect was apprehended.
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Investigations conducted by the NIA revealed that the accused had led radicalization programmes to motivate, incite, and recruit gullible Muslim youth, who were then provided with weapons training at training centres. PFI cadres formerly carried out the orders of PFI office bearers and leaders to conduct reconnaissance, attack adversaries, and engage in illegal and violent activities.
