Crackdown On PFI: 6 members arrested in UP; objectionable literature recovered

Lucknow: Stepping up the crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad arrested six members of the organisation from two different towns and recovered "objectionable literature" among other materials from them, said the ATS on Saturday. Four members of PFI were arrested from Meerut on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday while two others were nabbed in Varanasi during the same period last night. The arrested accused in Meerut were identified as Mohammad Shadab Aziz Qasmi hailing from Shamli, Maulana Sajid (Shamli), Mufti Shahzad (Ghaziabad), Mohammad Islam Qasmi (Muzaffarnagar). Read also: NIA pan-India crackdown on PFI code-named Operation Octopus A case under Section- 120B, 121A, 153A, 295A, 109, 505(2) IMD and Section 13(1) (B) Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has been registered at the Police Station Kharkhoda in Meerut. Accused named Rizwan Ahmed and Mohammad Shahid were arrested from over bridge under construction at Kazzakpura railway crossing in Varanasi. A case under sections 121A, 153A, 295A, 109,120B IPC and 13(AB) UAP Act has been registered in Thana Adampur, Varanasi. Meanwhile, the largest-ever crackdown that was conducted against the Popular Front of India (PFI) members spread across 15 states was code-named "Operation Octopus", sources said on Saturday. Read also: NIA raids PFI locations nationwide over terror funding charges; 106 members arrested so far The joint teams of the National Investigative Agency (NIA) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested over 106 PFI members in multiple raids spread across several states on September 22. A large number of criminal cases have been registered in different states over the last few years against the PFI and its leaders and members for their involvement in many violent acts. (with Agency inputs)