Kamal K P among top five in PFI leadership arrested by UP police

The UP police had alleged that members of the PFI wanted to incite trouble following the Hathras case. A 5,000 page chargesheet was filed in this regard

The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has arrested a member of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) for trying to stir up unrest.

Kamal K P, a resident of Melattur in Mallapuram district of Kerala attempted to stir up unrest and incite protests in Hathras, following the death of a 19-year old woman there. Kamal had a bounty of Rs 25,000 on his head.

Additional Director General, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said a voice note was received from journalist Siddique Kappan's mobile phone during the investigation by the STF. The said voice note was sent to Kamal in which a code word was used to call for a secret meeting. This meeting was called to instigate riots in Hathras.

Kumar further added that Kamal K P was a member of the PFI's hit squad and a mentor to one Anshad Badruddin, who along with his aide Firoze Khan was apprehended with improvised explosive devices (IED) in Lucknow in the year 2021. The police officer also revealed that Kamal K P was among the top five leaders of the PFI.

The police also learnt that Badruddin and Khan, both natives of Kerala had arrived in UP to execute multiple bomb blasts in Lucknow and other parts of the state.

On March 2, an SC-ST court in Uttar Pradesh had acquitted three persons accused in the Hathras case, while holding one guilty. Of the four, Sandeep Sisodia, Luv Kush, Ravi and Ramu were acquitted. Sandeep the fourth accused was held guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.

In April 2021, the UP police had filed a 5,000 page chargesheet against Kaplan and seven others for conspiring to create communal tension in Hathras. The UP police had arrested Kaplan in October 2020, when he was on his way to cover the Hathras case. After serving more than two years in jail, Kaplan was released on the orders of the Lucknow Sessions Court.

Along with Kaplan, the chargesheet was also filed against PFI members Masood Ahmed, Rauf Sharif, Anshad Badruddin, Atiqur Rahman, and Firoz Khan.

About the Hathras case:

The Hathras case refers to the rape and murder of a 19-year old Dalit woman in Hathras, UP. The case took place in 2020 and the victim succumbed to injuries at a Delhi hospital two weeks after the incident.

The victim's family had alleged that they were prevented from filing a case and the police cremated the body in the middle of the night without the family's consent.

The case was eventually handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the UP government. In June the CBI filed a chargesheet against four accused in the case.