Kerala, the southern state of India has been put under high alert after the Central government banned the Popular Front of India for five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
According to an Asianet report, the Kerala police is gearing up to seal all PFI offices in the state, along with freezing bank accounts of people related to the radical outfit.
The report further noted that the home secretary of the state is expected to issue a circular asking to take further actions against PFI and related entities.
Popular Front of India has also created a hitlist of people who should be killed, and the list includes a Station House Officer and a civil police officer from Palakkad, the Asianet report added.
Kerala police have apparently informed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at least 379 people were there on this list.
The state government has asked all the district police chiefs on high alert, as protests are expected to originate in the state as a result of the ban.
The PFI ban comes on the heels of a country-wide raid which happened on September 22, when hundreds of PFI workers were arrested by the NIA.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the PFI was closely working with anti-national elements including international terror outfits.
MHA also alleged that PFI was trying to destabilize the communal harmony in the nation.
The ministry further added that the PFI is involved in several terrorist acts and the murder of persons including Sanjith (Kerala, November 2021), V. Ramalingam, (Tamil Nadu, 2019), Nandu, (Kerala, 2021), Abhimanyu (Kerala, 2018), Bibin (Kerala, 2017), Sharath (Karnataka, 2017), R. Rudresh (Karnataka, 2016), Praveen Poojary (Karnataka, 2016), Sasi Kumar (Tamil Nadu, 2016) and Praveen Nettaru (Karnataka, 2022).
