New Delhi:
OP Singh, the Uttar Pradesh Police chief, has requested the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to impose a complete ban on Popular Front of India (PFI), reported ANI UP.
In a tweet, ANI UP said, “UP DGP OP Singh writes a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs, requesting to 'impose a ban on Popular Front of India (PFI) as investigations found PFI's involvement in the violent protests against #CitizenshipAmendmentAct that took place on 19 December.”
The stringent step comes nearly a week after the UP government claimed Islamic outfits such as PFI and SIMI were involved in the violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that took place on 19 December in different parts of the state. The UP government had also said that six people from West Bengal associated with PFI and SIMI were arrested.
Also, the recent intelligence input shared by the Uttar Pradesh Police with the Central agencies, and under consideration of the MHA, suggests that the PFI was active in different parts of the state including Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bijnor, Barabanki, Gonda, Bahraich, Varanasi, Azamgarh, and Sitapur areas during anti-CAA protests.
Protests against CAA that broke out in several districts of Uttar Pradesh on December 19 left at least 16 people dead and moveable and immoveable assets damaged, mostly in arson.
Also Read: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan Moves Resolution Demanding Withdrawal Of CAA In State Assembly
The amended citizenship law allows citizenship to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Parsis who entered India before 2015 after facing religious persecution in three neighbouring countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. The list excludes Muslims.
