The state secretary of the outlawed Popular Front of India, CA Rauf, was detained on Friday in Kerala for allegedly engaging in illegal activity and enticing young people to join terrorist organizations as part of a plot to impose "Islamic rule" in India, according to the National Investigation Agency.
According to a federal agency spokeswoman, CA Rauf, a resident of Karimpulli-Palakkad, was the 13th suspect detained in the Kerala investigation involving the Popular Front of India (PFI).
According to a strict anti-terror statute, the central government banned the PFI and many of its members for five years in September, alleging that they had a "connection" to international terrorist organizations like ISIS.
Rehab India Foundation, Campus Front of India, All India Imams Council, National Confederation of Human Rights Organization, National Women's Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation, and Rehab Foundation, Kerala are among the organizations that were also declared illegal under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), CA Rauf was the PFI state secretary in Kerala and was in charge of the organization's media and public relations departments.
He went missing after his name surfaced during the investigation of the case filed against the PFI, its office bearers, members, and affiliates in Kerala, who were found conspiring to engage in unlawful activities such as sowing discord among followers of various religions and groups and carrying out activities detrimental to communal harmony to upset public peace and tranquility and sowing discontent against India.
They have also been discovered encouraging vulnerable youth to join terrorist organizations, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)/Daesh, and Al-Qaida, as well as the conspiracy to impose Islamic rule in India through terrorist acts, which has resulted in alarm and fear among the populace.
The source said CA Rauf avoided capture and went AWOL, adding that "he is one of the principal conspirators in the instant case." Earlier, 12 suspects were detained throughout the inquiry.