NIA-ED raids: PFI calls for 'dawn to dusk harthal' in Kerala

Kochi, Sep 22: Protesting the nationwide raids by the National Investigation Agency, the Popular Front of India (PFI) has called a hartal in Kerala on Friday. The strike will be observed from 6 am to 6 pm.

"Our strike is to protest the RSS-controlled fascist government's state hunt using central agencies to silence dissenting voices," PFI's state committee said.

In a major operation, the NIA, the Enforcement Directorate and local police launched multiple raids across 13 states to crackdown on terror activities and funding.

The raids conducted in states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Assam began at around 3.30 am on Thursday and over 106 leaders of the Popular Front of India have been arrested so far.

22 arrests were made in Kerala making it the highest followed by Karnataka and Maharashtra (20 each). In Tamil Nadu and Assam 10 and nine arrests were made respectively while in Uttar Pradesh it was eight, Andhra Pradesh, five and Madhya Pradesh, four.

Further, there were three arrests each in Delhi and Puducherry and two in Rajasthan. The PFI has said that this is a clear case of the government using agencies to silence dissenting voices.