On 8th March, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) released the names of multiple members of the banned terror outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) from different states of South India who are involved in several cases, seeking information about them. They posted their details on social media, saying that people providing information about them leading to their arrest will be suitably rewarded. The culprits are mentioned along with important details including their names, pictures, house addresses and the names of their fathers, however, two anonymous males are also displayed on the notification.
The agency has requested people to share any information regarding these accused individuals and has assured that the identity of the informants will not be revealed and they would also be provided with a reward. A WhatsApp number is also mentioned for the same purpose.
The press release read, “If you have any information on their present whereabouts or information that can lead to their arrest, please share via WhatsApp @ +91-9497715294. Persons sharing credible inputs leading to the arrest of absconders will be suitably rewarded. The identity of the informant shall be kept secret.”
The perpetrators wanted from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are Shaik Iliyas Ahmed of Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district, Abdul Saleem of Telangana’s Jagtial and Md Abdul Ahad also known as M A Ahad of Nizamabad in Telangana.
The next on the list are Abdul Vahab V A from Ernakulam district, Abdul Rasheed K from Palakkad district and Ayyoob T A who is also from Ernakulam district, all three from Kerala along with a picture of an unidentified man.
Muhammed Manzoor, Shahul Hameed and Muhammedali K P, all belonging to the Palakkad district of Kerala along with Muhammed Yazer Arafath alias Yasir of Ernakulam district and Shafeekh P from Malappuram district of Kerala are the PFI terrorists featured on the notice.
A PFI member by the name of Rafeeq M S of Ernakulam district from the state of Kerala is also on the list.
The next names are from Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district which include Md Mustafa, Masood Agnady also known as Masud K A, Mohammed Shereif Kodaje, Ummar R alias Umar Farooq and Abubakkar Siddik alias Aboobakkar Siddique
Md Ali Jinna from Thirubuvanam, Abdul Majith from Kumbakonam, Bhurkanudeen from Vadakkumangudi along with Shahul Hameed and Nafeel Hasan who are both from Thiruvidaimaruthur are on the list. All five are residents of Tamil Nadu.
Three photographs of a person involved in the murder of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader were also released along with an appeal that read, “The unknown person shown in the pictures below was involved in the murder of Srinivasan, a resident of Palakkad, Kerala, on 16.4.2022. He is wanted in NIA RC-02/2022/NIA/KOC (PFI Kerala case). If you have any information about him, please share it via WhatsApp @9497 715 294 or send it through email at info.koc.nia@gov.in.”
On 19th December 2021, Ranjith Sreenivas was murdered at his residence by Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) workers. SDPI is the political arm of Islamist outfit Popular Front of India. The incident took place in the Alappuzha district of Kerala. The unidentified perpetrators broke into his house in the wee hours of Sunday and hacked him to death. He was a member of the BJP Kerala committee and OBC Morcha (State) Secretary. Furthermore, he had contested as a BJP candidate from the Alappuzha constituency in 2016. The BJP leader was an advocate by occupation.
Following the incident, Section 144 (prohibiting the gathering of four or more people in an area) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was imposed in the Alappuzha district to prevent any untoward incident. The incident happened hours after a state-level leader of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) leader was killed in the same district.
VG Sridevi judge at Kerala’s Mavelikkara Additional District Sessions Court, Alappuzha pronounced the verdict on the case. She issued death sentences to the fifteen convicts of the aforementioned Islamist groups on 30th January. Naeem, Mohammed Aslam, Anoop, Ajmal, Abdul Kalam alias Salam, Abdul Kalam, Safaruddin, Manshad, Jaseeb Raja, Nawas, Sameer, Nazir, Zakir Hussain, Shaji and Shernus Ashraf were found guilty of the crime by the court.