PFI workers nabbed in Telangana for training youth
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Hyderabad: Three people, allegedly members of Popular Front of India, were arrested in Nizamabad on charges of training youth to target people of other community.
Shaik Sadullah, 40, Mohammed Imran, 22, and Mohammed Abdul Mobin, 27 gave weapon training to gullible youth to create trouble, police said.
They now face charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention Act (UAPA).
Police commissioner K.R. Nagaraju, however, put the total arrest in the case at four and 30 more were identified and efforts were on to arrest them.
Abdul Khader, 52, was earlier arrested by the police for allegedly training martial arts.
PFI members, police said, hired Khader to carry out training. Sadullah allegedly offered Rs 6 lakh to him for the purpose.
Police registered a case under IPC sections 120-B (conspiracy), 153-A (promoting enmity between groups) and also under section 13 (1) (b) of UAPA.
Police also claimed to have seized from PFI workers 'nunchuks' (karate sticks), knives and literature with content to instigate religious animosity.
The commissioner said though PFI is not a banned organisation, the activities of its members attracted penal action.
The organisation has its network spread to districts like Jagtiyal and Warangal in Telangana and to Kadapa and Kurnool district in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile, Nizamabad MP D. Arvind alleged that some police officials were behind the training to youths. Even as the training was happening, police did not take action.
The BJP MP demanded that the Nizamabad police commissioner be immediately removed from the post. He claimed that following the pressure from the Central intelligence agencies, the police took action against PFI activists.
Source : IANS with edits
