3 more members of banned PFI arrested in MP for 'conspiracy against govt'

The Madhya Pradesh Police have arrested three members of the banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) on charges of conspiring against the government and indulging in unlawful activities, an official said on Sunday.

With this, the police have taken into custody four members of the banned outfit in the last couple of days.

In the latest action, two PFI members were arrested in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal on Saturday while the third one was arrested after being brought on production warrant from Aurangabad (in Maharashtra) in connection with a case registered by the MP Police's Special Task Force last year, the official said.

The three accused have been identified as Gulam Rasool Shah (37), a resident of Dhar district, Sajid Khan aka Gulam Nabi (56), a resident of Indore, and Parvez Khan (30), from Aurangabad, he said.

They were booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 121A (conspiracy to wage war against government), 153B (assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), besides provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act," the official said.

Parvez Khan was in a jail in Aurangabad and was brought to Bhopal on Saturday on a production warrant, he said.

The official said Parvez Khan was associated with the PFI since 2017 and came to Madhya Pradesh as the physical endurance (PE) instructor of the banned organisation to impart the training on several occasions.

Gulam Rasool was an active member of the PFI and used to inspire people to work for the organisation by visiting various areas of the state, he said.

Gulam Nabi was looking after the PFI's financial management Madhya Pradesh, the official said.

The three accused were produced before a local court which sent them in police remand till February 8.

Earlier on Friday, the police arrested PFI office-bearer Wasid Khan (26), a resident of Sheopur, in the same case.

Wasid Khan joined PFI's legal cell National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation in 2019 and held the post of its state general secretary, the official said.

The Centre in September 2022 banned the PFI and several of its associates for five years under a stringent anti-terror law, accusing them of having "links" with global terror groups like ISIS and trying to spread communal hatred in the country.

Before the ban, the National Investigating Agency (NIA), the Enforcement Directorate(ED) and various state police forces had carried out raids in a massive pan-India crackdown on the PFI and arrested several of its leaders and activists from various states for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country.