On Wednesday, 28 September 2022, the Centre banned the Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) and several of its associates for five years under a stringent anti-terror law, accusing them of having links with global terror organisations, including ISIS.

The Centre also accused the PFI and its associates of indulging in subversive activities, thereby disturbing public order and undermining the constitutional set-up of the country. It said PFI propagated anti-national sentiments and radicalised a particular section of society, intending to create disaffection against the country.

Among the subversive activities undertaken by PFI, targeted killings of political and ideological opponents rank among the top. In several cases of political killings, the role of PFI and its associates in planning and executing the murders has come to the fore.

Here are some of the cases of the targeted killing in which investigative agencies have found PFI involvement:-

C Sasikumar murder case

One of the most high-profile targeted killing cases involving PFI cadres was that of Hindu Munnani spokesperson C Sasikumar. On 22 September 2016, some unknown persons followed C Sasikumar while returning home. Without any provocation, the bike-borne assailants attacked him with sharp weapons near Chakraa Vinayaka Temple, Subramaniayampalayam Road, under Thudiyalur Police Station, district Coimbatore. As a result of the assault, Sasikumar sustained grievous injuries on the neck, head, shoulder, and hands and later on, he succumbed to his injuries in KG Hospital, Coimbatore.

The police registered a case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. Later, the case was transferred to the Special Investigation Division (SID), which invoked sections 120B and 153A of IPC and Sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, on 20 November 2017.

The SID charged Sadham Hussain and four others with murdering Sasikumar. After the Central government received information about the case against Sadham and others, the NIA registered a case under sections 302, 153A and 120B of IPC and under sections 16 & 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, against the accused and launched an investigation in the incident.

The investigation revealed that the accused were active members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) and had conspired to strike terror in a particular section of people and send a message through the brutal killing of Sasikumar. The PFI members specifically chose Sasikumar for assassination owing to his growing stature in his organisation, and being a spokesperson for Hindu Munnani, he routinely interacted with higher functionaries of Hindu organisations.

Sasikumar was a public figure and widely popular among Hindu organisations. He also helped in facilitating the installation of Ganesha idols in Coimbatore and surrounding places during Ganesha Chaturthi by seeking permission from the district and local authorities. The NIA probe also found that the murder of Sasikumar had its roots in an incident that took place nearly a year before his assassination. On 23 September 2015, there was an incident wherein one SDPI (a political offshoot of PFI) flag post near the Revenue Office at Sanganur, Coimbatore, was taken down following a protest by local Hindu groups, including Hindu Munnani leaders in which Sasikumar played a pivotal role.

The assassination of Sasikumar was a symbolic message to Hindus and anybody who dared to cross the PFI and its associates. The PFI assailants specifically chose to hack Sasikumar in front of Chakra Vinayaka (Lord Ganesh) Temple, just 400 meters away from his house, not only because he was an ardent devotee of Lord Ganesha but also because they wanted to stir terror among the Hindus by demonstrating that they could murder anybody, even in front of their places of worship and near their homes. The date of the murder was also chosen to coincide with the date of removal of the SDPI flag post one year earlier.

The investigation found that all the five accused were members of PFI, and held criminal conspiracy meetings in the house of one of the accused, Mubarak, and also in the parking area of CTC Mosque and Sai Baba colony to commit the terror act.

Ramalingam Murder case

Another case that demonstrates the involvement of PFI workers in criminal activities is the Ramalingam murder case in 2019. On 5 February 2019, a heated altercation between Ramalingam between PFI Dawah workers became the cause of his death. Ramalingam had raised objections to the dawah work carried out by some PFI workers at Paku Vinayakam Thopu village, (an SC-dominated area) in Thirubuvanam, as they were learnt to be indulging in the forcible conversion of the poor people to Islam.

A heated argument ensued between Ramalingam and the PFI dawah workers, after which Ramalingam took the skull cap from one of the dawah workers and wore it, and asked a nearby resident to bring vibhooti (holy ash) and applied it to the forehead of a dawah team member, to show that Hindu religion emphasises that all religions are same. The video of the incident had gone viral on social media on the same day.

However, on the same night, while Ramalingam was returning with his son, he was intercepted by four unidentified men and brutally attacked with sharp weapons. Ramalingam suffered deep cuts and injuries and was rushed to the nearby government hospital. He was then referred to Thanjavur Medical College Hospital and on the way to Thanjavur, he succumbed to his injuries.

A case was filed in the matter under sections 302, 120B, 143, 147, &148 r/w 149 of the IPC, besides sections 15 r/w 16, 18, 18B, 19 & 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Considering the gravity of the offence and other factors involved in the case, the Government of India entrusted the investigation to NIA.

The NIA re-registered the case and launched an investigation into the matter. In its investigation, the NIA found that a meeting was held at the SDPI office on 5 February 2019, the same day when Ramalingam accosted PFI dawah workers and stopped them from carrying out proselyting activities. The meeting was presided over by Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Thanjavur north district president/PFI, now absconding) to discuss the incident of the verbal dual between Ramalingam and dawah workers. The meeting unanimously decided to chop off both hands of Ramalingam as punishment. Some of the participants said that if no action was taken by PFI, the organisation would become a laughing stock among Muslims and there would be further opposition to their dawah work. 

Immediately after the meeting, Mohamed Asarudeen, Mohamed Riyas, Nijam Ali, Sarbudeen, Mohamed Rizwan, Rahman Sadiq, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Mohamed Faruk and Myden Ahmed Shali hatched a criminal conspiracy to carry out jihad against Ramalingam by chopping off his hands so that no one could ever dare to raise their voice against their proselytising activities. In furtherance of the said conspiracy, the accused Thowheeth Batcha besides Abdul Majith, Bhurkhanudeen and Shahul Hameed had lethally attacked Ramalingam and caused his death, while Mohammed Thoufik and Mohamed Farvees helped the accused by providing information about the victim’s movements.

RSS worker R Rudresh hacked to death by PFI workers

R Rudresh, a committed RSS worker and a resident of Shivaji Nagar in Bengaluru was killed by 5 PFI activists on 16 October 2016 to strike terror at the hearts of people by killing RSS members in uniform. The police investigation in the case revealed that Rudresh was hacked to death by the accused Irfan Pasha and three others, who came on two motorcycles and attacked Rudresh with a sharp lethal machete by shouting the word “Chinalke Kaffir” meaning a “Bastard non-believer” and fled away.

The investigation also revealed that all the five arrested and one absconding accused were members of PFI and SDPI (the political wing of PFI). The same was well established by their photos figuring in posters of SDPI pasted in public places in Bengaluru city. The police also found that before executing their nefarious plan, the accused held a conspiracy meeting near AKSA masjid and near Chota Charminar in the month of September 2016. The probe found out that Asim Sherif, President of PFI Bengaluru, was the main conspirator behind the terror attack. It was Asim, the investigation revealed, who had brainwashed the other accused and convinced them that it was their religious duty to kill RSS members in uniform as part of the holy war against the kafirs.

Irfan Pasha, Waseem Ahmed, Mohd Sadiq, Mujeeb Ulla, and Asim Sheriff, all members of PFI, were arrested in the case. Mohammed Ghouse Nayazi, a conspirator and a PFI member, was absconding accused and charge-sheeted in the case.

It is worth noting that the said cases are not an exhaustive list, but a few examples of how PFI members are involved in killing Hindus for either wearing their religion on their sleeves or for opposing the illegal activities carried out by PFI cadres. There are, surely, many other cases of depravity by PFI members that are yet to see the light of the day or are currently under investigation.