All India Imam Council's Maharashtra chief arrested in raids on PFI

As the raids against the Popular Front of India are underway in various states of the country including Maharashtra the Nashik Police Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested the All India Imam Councils state chief Maulana Irfan Daulat Nadvi along with a member of the organisationThe raids are underway by the central agency and state antiterror squad at various locations in the state including Thane Nashik and MalegaonAll India Imams Council state chief Maulana Irfan Daulat Nadvi and PFI member Rashid Shahdain Shaheed Iqbal taken into custody by Nashik Police Crime Branch us 151 late last night said Police Inspector Hemant Patil on TuesdayAlso read PFI raids Maharashtra ATS makes one more arrestAround 40 people linked to PFI have been detained from Aurangabad Solapur Amravati Pune Thane and Mumbai so far This entire operation has been carried out by the states local police with inputs from a Central Agency All inquiries are underway said Maharashtra PolicePune Police officials informed that the police detained six persons with links to SDPI and PFI from the Kondhwa area today morning Further details are awaitedThe raids are also being conducted in five other states and Union Territories which include Assam Uttar Pradesh Delhi Madhya Pradesh and KarnatakaAs many as 25 PFI leaders and members have been arrested so far in the raids in Assams Kamrup Rural 5 Goalpara 10 Karimganj 1 Udalguri 1 Darrang 1 Dhubri 3 Barpeta 2 Baksa 2Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the operation against the organisation will be intensifiedToday in Assam we have picked up 25 PFI people This operation will be intensified he saidEarlier today in statewide raids in Karnataka about 80 to 90 PFI workers of its political wing Social Democratic Party of India SDPI and leaders were taken into preventive custody informed a police officialAbout 80 to 90 PFI and SDPI workers and leaders have been taken into preventive custody including the SDPI Yadgiri district president The police raids are underway across the state The cases have been booked under sections 108 151 CrPC said Alok Kumar ADGP Law and Order BengaluruAccording to the Kolar Police seven PFI and SDPI members and office bearers have been picked up in the early morning raids and will be produced before the executive magistrate under 107 CrPCThe arrested persons have been identified as Imtiaz Ahmed PFI district president Siddiq Pasha Vasim Pasha AllaBakash Nayaz Pasha Shahabaz Pasha and Noor PashaSpeaking to ANI Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said Police have caught 21 people associated with PFI from 8 districts Links about them were found after the people who were arrested last week were interrogatedTodays raids were in continuation of the crackdown started by the NIA and ED against the PFI on September 22The NIA had arrested over 106 members of the PFI during its largestever raids spread across 15 statesSearches were conducted at multiple locations in the largest ever investigation process till dateThe operation started late in the night around 1 am and learnt to be concluded by 5 am involving over 1500 personnel of state police Central Armed Police Forces and officers of NIA and EDSeveral incriminating documents more than 100 mobile phones laptops and other materials have been seized by the raiding teamsThese searches were conducted at the residential and official premises of persons involved in funding terrorism organising training camps and radicalising people to join proscribed organisationsThe PFI was launched in Kerala in 2006 after merging three Muslim organizations floated after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 the National Development Front of Kerala Karnataka Forum for Dignity and Manitha Neethi Pasari of Tamil Nadu After the demolition of the Babri mosque many fringe outfits had surfaced in south India and PFI was formed after merging some of themThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever