Mumbai court extends ATS custody of five accused in PFI case till Oct 3

The Court in Mumbai extended till October 3 the ATS custody of five people, arrested during the multi-agency raids conducted on the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Maharashtra last week.

The five accused were among 20 people nabbed from the state by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in multi-agency raids across the country spearheaded by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last Thursday. The ATS produced the five accused before the court of additional sessions judge A M Patil on the expiry of their previous remand.

They were booked on charges of engaging in unlawful activities, promoting enmity among communities, and waging a war against the country. In a massive crackdown on PFI, multi-agency teams had arrested 106 leaders and activists of the radical Islamic outfit in near-simultaneous raids in 15 states for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country.

Maharashtra and Karnataka accounted for 20 arrests each, Tamil Nadu (10), Assam (9), Uttar Pradesh (8), Andhra Pradesh (5), Madhya Pradesh (4), Puducherry and Delhi (3 each) and Rajasthan (2).