The Kerala police on Tuesday called the reports that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has handed over a list of 873 cops suspected to have links with the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) to the state police chief “baseless”.
Earlier, some reports emanating from the national capital claimed that the NIA had handed over a long list of officials who have strong connections with the PFI and sought action against them. The report also claimed that these policemen leaked vital information to the PFI before raids and after bandh which led to large-scale violence in the state.
Police media centre deputy director V P Pramod Kumar in a statement said “the report was baseless and no such list was handed over to the state police chief Anil Kant”. Later the police also took to its Twitter handle to refute the claim. “The news that the NIA handed over a report to the state police chief exposing links of 873 police personnel with the PFI is false and unverified,” it tweeted.
Meanwhile, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has decided to terminate the service of PFI chairman OMA Salam, who was on its roll since 2000. A senior KSEB official said, “Salam, who was working as the senior audit officer in Manjeri (Malappuram), was under suspension from December 14, 2020”. “Termination was initiated against Salam under government service rules after his arrest by the NIA on September 22,” he said.
In 2018, the KSEB had issued a show cause notice to him regarding his frequent foreign tours and in 2020 he was suspended after the Enforcement Directorate registered a case against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Though, he later moved the high court which refused to intervene. Records with the SEB show he had drawn his salary till August 2022.
After the countrywide raids and arrest of many PFI leaders the outfit had given a call for state bandh on September 23 which witnessed large-scale violence leaving many injured. Later, the high court had registered a case on its own and directed the police to make the PFI leaders who had given the call an accused in all bandh-related cases. The state police later arrested 2500 PFI activists and registered 350 cases in connection with violence.
