Banned outfit hit list had 977 names, including ex-Kerala judge: NIA tells court

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has told a special court in Kerala’s Kochi that they recovered multiple “hit lists” maintained by the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) containing the names of about 977 individuals, including a former District Judge.

According to the NIA’s submission, PFI had a dedicated ‘Reporters Wing’, a quasi-intelligence unit tasked with collecting private and personal information about individuals from other communities, particularly the Hindu community. This included details like name, age, photos, positions held, and even their day-to-day activities.

The NIA said the data was compiled at the district level and passed to PFI’s state hierarchy, regularly updated, and used to target individuals “as and when required by the terrorist gang.”

The agency also claimed that PFI operated three covert wings, the Reporters Wing, the Physical and Arms Training Wing (PE), and the Service Wing, also known as ‘Hit Teams’. Documents also revealed that the Periyar Valley Campus, which has been attached by the NIA, functioned as an alleged arms training centre for the banned outfit.

The agency revealed this while opposing the bail pleas of Muhammad Bilal and Riyasudheen, two accused in the 2022 murder case of RSS leader Srinivasan in Palakkad.

RSS leader Srinivasan was killed on April 16, 2022, at his motorbike shop in Palakkad. The NIA maintains that the murder of Sreenivasan formed part of a broader conspiracy by the PFI to commit acts of terror in furtherance of its radical agenda.

The murder was allegedly carried out in retaliation for the killing of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) activist Subair, who was hacked to death one day earlier, on April 15, by suspected RSS workers in Elappully, Palakkad.

The SDPI worker was returning from a mosque around 1.30 am when a car hit his vehicle from behind. The passengers got down from the car and allegedly hacked him to death.

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