Suspecting protests, police detain PFI, SDPI activists in fresh crackdown

A day after the SDPI conducted a press conference to criticise the NIA raids, terming the organisation a pet of the Centre, the police carried out pan-state raids on Tuesday, and put as many as 75 SDPI and PFI members under preventive detention.

The action was taken based on NIA inputs about possible violent protests across the country, like the ones recently witnessed in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. PFI and SDPI members who have a history of cases and are involved in the protests are being identified and taken into custody, and are being made to give bonds and undertakings against participating in the agitation.

The detainees have been booked under Sections 108 and 151 of the CrPC, following the instructions of Karnataka’s ADGP (Law & Order) Alok Kumar.

“Since today morning, the state police have been picking up PFI activists from various districts in Karnataka, and they are kept in preventive custody as they had resorted to violence due to the recent raids and searches by the NIA and the subsequent arrests of select PFI leaders who are allegedly involved in subversive activities,” Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said on Tuesday.

“These preventive arrests of the PFI activists are for deterrence as there are inputs that they would likely disturb the harmony in society. They will be produced before the respective tahsildars and undertakings will be taken from them,” added the minister.