New Delhi: According to investigating agencies, over 1,400 criminal cases had been lodged against the leaders and activists of the now-proscribed Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates across the country over the years.
The Twitter handle of the PFI, on the other hand, was taken down on Thursday, a day after the group was banned by the government for five years for allegedly having "links" with global terror organisations.
"Account Withheld. @PFIOfficial's account has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand," a message on the page read.
The PFI was accused of indulging in "disturbing" communal and secular fabric of the country and "posing a grave threat" to the national security by advancing its radical ideology and calling for the establishment of political Islam in India besides allegedly carrying out targeted killings of Hindu activists. Several PFI leaders and members were allegedly previously affiliated to the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which was banned in 2001.
Having a well-structured organisational setup at the national, state and local levels, the PFI with a 13-member national executive council was headed by its chairman as the supreme decision-making body with its national general assembly having representatives from each state. The outfit also had a "secret wing" which planned and executed "revenge attacks", it is alleged.