In what has been referred to as the largest-ever crackdown against the group, more than 100 people connected to the Popular Front of India (PFI) were detained or arrested on Tuesday during the second round of raids within a week on the locations of the organisation and its functionaries throughout the country.
The new raids came five days after 108 PFI officials, including its chairman OMA Salam, were detained in raids the National Investigation Agency (NIA) carried out in conjunction with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and state police forces at 102 locations throughout 15 states on suspicion of funding terrorism. This led to calls for the organisation to be outlawed.
On the basis of information from the NIA, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Madhya Pradesh arrested 22 PFI members from eight districts early on Tuesday, according to an official.
Abdul Karim, the state director of PFI, Abdul Khalid, Mohammad Javed, and Jameel Sheikh were detained by the NIA last week in Ujjain and Indore. They were then placed on a seven-day police remand. The new detentions were made following an examination of the paperwork seized in Thursday's raids.