Saudi return ends PFI fugitive run
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a “key absconder” linked to the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in the 2022 Sreenivasan murder case, after he arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here from Saudi Arabia, officials said on Thursday. Sreenivasan was a prominent RSS leader from Palakkad, Kerala. The agency said Muhammadali KP, PFI’s Palakkad district president, was taken into custody at the airport on his arrival from Riyadh, where he had allegedly been hiding for the past four years, an official statement said. With his arrest, the total number of arrestees in the case has risen to 67, the statement said.
Among the 65 accused chargesheeted so far in the case, Muhammadali is facing charges under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), it said. According to the statement, the accused, a resident of Kerala’s Palakkad district, was “a prominent perpetrator of the murder conspiracy” and had also “harboured the assailants involved in the brutal killing of Sreenivasan on 16th April 2022.”
The agency said it had announced a reward of Rs.3 lakh for information leading to his arrest and had also secured an Interpol Red Notice against him. The agency alleged that Sreenivasan “was killed by PFI cadres in pursuance of the proscribed outfit’s conspiracy to unleash terror with the nefarious agenda of establishing Islamic Rule in India by 2047“.
The NIA said its investigation found that the accused had conspired to create “a communal divide through violent extremism and Jihad in the country”. According to the agency, the PFI operated through various wings and units and allegedly used its offices, campuses and other infrastructure “to impart arms training to selected cadres in the guise of Physical Education, Yoga Training, etc, through its PE Wing”.
The agency further alleged that while the Reporters Wing collected information on prospective targets, the actual terror acts were carried out by the Service Teams. The NIA, which registered the case in September 2022, said further investigation is underway.
Investigations by the agency revealed that the PFI operated through specialised wings—utilising its ‘Physical Education Wing‘ for arms training under the guise of fitness activities, a ‘Reporters Wing‘ to gather intelligence on potential targets, and ‘Service Teams‘ to carry out violent acts. Officials said he will be shifted to Kerala and produced before the NIA court in Kochi soon.
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