Karnataka govt has initiated procedures for banning outfits such as PFI: Basavaraj Bommai

Karnataka government on Friday said steps had been initiated for legal action and banning organisations such as the Popular Front of India (PFI) which are allegedly involved in anti-social and terror-related activities in the state.

It has directed the police and authorities concerned to gather information regarding activities of such organisations so that the required inputs could be sent to the Centre (seeking the ban), state Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.

He made it clear that the action will not be limited against PFI and SDFI (Social Democratic Front of India) and all organisations involved in such activities and keep changing their names were under the scanner. His statement comes in the backdrop of recent arrests of terror suspects from Karnataka and weeks after the Uttar Pradesh police sought a ban on PFI.

Two people with alleged links to some IS activists in Kerala and wanted in connection with the recent killing of a special sub-inspector in Tamil Nadu were arrested from the Udupi railway station on January 14. The UP police have sought the ban on PFI after its complicity was suspected in the recent statewide violent protests against the amended citizenship law. Several senior BJP leaders in Karnataka have been demanding a ban on PFI and other such organisations pointing to their alleged role in the violence, including in Mangaluru during the recent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Because of certain recent incidents (anti-social and terror), it is necessary for us to take stringent action.

Already Uttar Pradesh government has decided to take action, we also have taken all these activities seriously, Bommai said. Noting that there was a set of procedures for it, he said details about the number of cases, complaints, prosecutions, convictions of members of such outfits and their links were required. "We are making all preparations to stop their activities completely and ban them... I have ordered officials to collect all such materials, the Minister said. Once the details were gathered, the law department would be consulted and information would be sent to the central government. We have records relating to their previous activities and several attempts have been made by them in Bengaluru, also their involvement in several murder cases is quite clear, he said. From recent arrests and action by the police from the state and Tamil Nadu and central intelligence bureau, the government has got a lot of information about the activities of various outfits, Bommai said.

He said several murders and terror-related activities and conspiracies to carry out such activities had been going on in places like Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mangaluru among others in the last 7-8 years and the police had been able to bust such modules. Stating that their activities have grown, he said "organisations like PFI and SDFI were involved in several murders, but cases against them were withdrawn by the previous government. So it helped them to continue with their activities and several incidents have occurred." Pointing to incidents like the attack on Congress legislator Tanveer Sait and also killings and attacks on workers of right-wing organisations, the Minister said, there have been several attempts to create violence and unrest. They have links with terror outfits in various names that active in other states and countries, this has come across during several probes, he said.

The organisations which involve in such activities keep changing their name, he said and alleged that PFI and SDFI were the "political face" of violence and terror activities. Responding to a question about a BJP MP from the state being reportedly among the target of anti-social organisations, the Home Minister said We have taken the conspiracy to attack MPs very seriously, we are looking at all angles to take necessary actions.