NIA apprehends top Kerala PFI leader

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a leader of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) on Thursday night from his house in Kerala’s Palakkad district.

C A Rauf, former state secretary of PFI, was taken from his house in Pattambi. He had been absconding following the nation-wide crackdown on the outfit by the NIA last month.

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Rauf is considered to be one of the masterminds of PFI. He was reported to be in hideouts in different states, including Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. On a tip-off that he had reached his house, the NIA nabbed him. He was taken to the NIA office in Kochi and was being questioned.

According to a source, there were suspicions about Rauf’s involvement in many murders executed by the PFI, as well as the widespread violence during the hartal organised by PFI in Kerala. The NIA also hoped to get information about PFI’s financial sources from Rauf.