Kozhikode: The police are clamping down on the hardline Popular Front of India (PFI) and its allied organisations after the knifing to death of Abhimanyu, a student of the Maharaja's College in Ernakulam, on July 1. The police action comes in the wake of specific inputs that the organisation was planning agitations and protests that could turn violent.
In a midnight operation last week, police teams had swooped down on offices of the PFI and the residences of its workers. Assistant commissioner of police (ACP), special branch, Abdul Wahab VM said 22 PFI workers were in 'preventive detention.' The Nadakkavu police had arrested three youths and let them out on bail.
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The three were identified as Faisal, 21; Ajmal, 21; and Aluksid, 21;, all hailing from Kozhikode and having links to the PFI.
“The three youths were arrested on information that they are likely to participate in agitations in town. There is no concrete statistics on how many of them have joined other popular political parties or student organisations. Reports indicating National Development Front (NDF) presence in SFI, KSU and DYFI are baseless. We do not have such information as of now. Strict measures are being taken to avoid unwarranted situations," the officer said.
“All events, including the ones organised by 'progressive organisations,' are under scanner. We cannot reveal the names now. There is information regarding planned protests and agitations, which could turn violent. The nearly 22 people, having links to the PFI, are in preventive custody, as a precautionary measure,” the ACP said.
Also read: Kerala police probe link between Abhimanyu murder and hand-chopping case
The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), an arm of the PFI, will organise a statewide campaign from July 20 to 30 in protest against alleged 'police torture' of their workers following the campus murder. SDPI leaders said the police were hunting down workers after the incident. In a press conference here on Thursday, SDPI state president Abdul Majeed Faisy said it would not sever ties with the CPM at the local body level and would work together in future to prevent the 'incursion of communal and fascist forces.'
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