Cops up pressure on PFI with raids, arrests in Kerala

The arrest of 274 detainees was also recorded on the day, taking the number of nabbed PFI workers to 1,295. So far, 308 cases have been registered in connection with the violence.

A KSRTC bus attacked by hartal supporters at Manacadu in Thiruvananthapuram (Photo | Special Arrangement) 

KOCHI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI) continued on Sunday with the police searching shops and establishments allegedly linked to the front in Kannur, besides arresting eight PFI workers from Kochi and Kozhikode in connection with the widespread violence unleashed during the hartal on September 23.

The arrest of 274 detainees was also recorded on the day, taking the number of nabbed PFI workers to 1,295. So far, 308 cases have been registered in connection with the violence. Data provided by the Police Headquarters said 834 people have been taken into preventive custody across the state.

The crackdown continued a day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who had come under criticism from Opposition parties over the “police’s failure” in preventing the violence, had termed the disturbances as “unprecedented and premeditated.” The police raided five shops in Kannur town, three in Valapatanam and two in Mattannur as well as establishments of people allegedly linked with PFI and seized laptops and pendrives. CCTV footage from the shops was also seized. No arrests were made in connection with the raids.

Police raiding a PFI office in Kannur

“We will inspect the laptops and CCTV visuals and proceed based on the evidence,” said Kannur district police commissioner R Ilango. The eight arrested PFI workers include three from Kochi who pelted stones and damaged a KSRTC bus near Perumbavoor timber market and five from Kozhikode.

Thiruvananthapuram top in hartal violence cases

Kochi/T’Puram: Anas, 37, of Parapuram in Perumbavoor and Rayonpuram natives Shiyas, 31, and Shamsudheen, 35, were arrested from Kochi. They had been part of the group that had stopped and damaged a Thiruvananthapuram-bound KSRTC bus coming from Thrissur.

Those arrested from Kozhikode included Maradu natives Muhammed Hathim, 38, and Abdul Jafar, 33. Among districts Thiruvananthapuram had the highest number of cases (50 cases, 184 arrests), followed by Kollam (39 cases, 254 arrests), Malappuram (34 cases and 141 arrests), and Kannur ( 33 cases and 41 arrests).