KOCHI: Highlighting a formidable threat to national security, the Kerala police have apprised the State Government of the cadre system being raised by the fundamentalist organisations in the state and the ‘dangers’ of them emerging as a ‘fifth column.’
Highly placed police officials have expressed their apprehensions to the State Government about the PFI raising a ‘highly organised cadre’ unit, which could possibly be used as a ‘fifth column’ by external forces.
The phrase fifth column was coined during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War to denote a group of people who had clandestinely worked within than country to help the external enemy.
“According to our investigation, the organisation has the capacity to mobilise its cadre within minutes. When the Thazhathangadi bus accident occurred near Kottayam, the PFI managed to mobilise around 150 cadre within an hour to control the mob,” the officials said.
A senior police officer said the police had put the PFI cadre system and their procedures under scanner after thoroughly analysing various factors.
“We strongly suspect the influence of external forces in developing the cadre system as the marching style and other aspects of the PFI during the ‘freedom parades’ have no resemblance to Indian defence forces. They do not even have similarities to the paramilitary forces in the country,” the officer said.
It has been learnt from highly placed police sources that the CDs, seized during raids on the premises of the PFI activists, were specifically made by the Al-Qaeda for training purposes.
“The visuals contain logo of Al-Qaeda. The CDs have been brought either from Afghanistan, Pakistan or the Gulf countries,” the officer said.
A lot of CDs have been circulated by the organisation in various places in the country, the officer said, and added that had the raids been launched simultaneously on the premises of the PFI activities, more information could have been collected.