3 PFI Members Arrested in Nizamabad, BJP Telangana Demands Ban on Organisation

They were arrested in connection with alleged arms training given to youngsters in Telangana.

Three PFI members have been arrested by Nizamabad police on charges of attempting to create religious animosity.

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Nizamabad Police on Wednesday, 6 July, arrested three Popular Front of India (PFI) members in connection with alleged arms training given to youngsters in the Nizamabad district of Telangana.

The arrested PFI activists were identified as Shaik Shadulla (40), Mohammed Imran (22), and Mohammed Abdul Mobin (27).

"We've taken 3 PFI activists into custody named Shaik Shadulla, Mohammed Imran & Mohammed Abdul Mobin. PFI’s main agenda is to create law & order problems across the country & carry out attacks on other religions," said KR Nagaraju, CP, Nizamabad, as quoted by news agency ANI.

The police further added the arrested PFI members contacted a Jagtial-based karate instructor Mohammed Abdul Khadar to train Muslim youngsters in karate, kung fu, and the use of lethal weapons, reported The Indian Express. Khadar was arrested on 4 July.

The trio had made a deal for Rs 6 lakh with Khadar, who trained around 200 youngsters in martial arts at his house in the Autonagar area of Nizamabad town for the past six months, the police added.

BJP Demands Ban on PFI

In view of the recent arrests, the Telangana unit of the BJP has demanded a ban on the PFI. "Urge the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to ban the radical organization PFI, owing to recent arrests and subsequent confessions made by the suspects, that PFI has been actively radicalizing Muslim youth for years," reads the official statement of the party.

The BJP further added that the PFI's agenda confessed by the arrested suspects to the police was extremely unsettling and dangerous to the religious harmony and social integrity of the country.

(With inputs from ANI and The Indian Express.)