Hathras gangrape case: 4 men with PFI links arrested in Mathura for plotting to create unrest

New Delhi, Oct 06: Uttar Pradesh police on Monday arrested four people, said to have links with alleged radical group Popular Front of India (PFI) and an associate outfit, were arrested in Mathura on Monday while they were on their way to Hathras from Delhi for their alleged involvement in stoking violence in Hathras.

The four accused were arrested at Mathura's toll plaza when the police was checking vehicles after receiving a tip off that some suspicious people were moving towardds Hathras from Delhi.

The four were identified as Atiq-ur Rehman of Muzaffarnagar, Siddique of Malappuram, Masood Ahmed of Bahraich and Alam of Rampur. Police claimed that they have seized their mobile phones, laptops and some literature, which could disturb peace and stability in Uttar Pradesh.

According to Uttar Pradesh police, the four accused had links with the PFI and its associate organisation Campus Front of India (CFI). The Yogi Adityanath government blames the PFI for protests in the state against the citizen law - Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) - that began last year and wants it banned.

Meanwhile, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Kanimozhi and members of the party's women's wing were on Monday detained for holding a protest against the Hathras case without permission in Chennai.

The victim, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang raped and brutalized by four upper caste men on September 14 and breathed her last on September 29 at Delhi's Safdurjung hospital.