The final blow

The PFI ban is the result of a decade of spadework by security agencies

- NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA, NIRMAL JOVIAL, LAKSHMI SUBRAMANIAN AND PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR

IT WAS A 'YOGA CLASS' at Narath in Kerala's Kannur district that marked the beginning of the end of the Popular Front of India.

On April 23, 2013, the Kerala Police got a tip-off that PFI activists were using a building under construction in the town to conduct weapons training disguised as a yoga class. As the police raided the building, the two lookouts at the gates fled. Inside, the police found a jute sack spread over a table. On top of it were iron nails, pieces of glass, ash-coloured powder, a bundle of thread, and two live bombs.

A thorough search of the site unearthed an iron sword, a petrol-soaked brick in a bucket fastened by metal wire, a wooden target shaped like a man, and five long wooden sticks. Also seized were raw materials for making improvised explosive devices-aluminium powder, potassium chlorate, and sulphur. The two live bombs were quickly defused.

The building belonged to the president of the PFI in Kannur. Arrests were made and a first information report under the Arms Act, the Explosive Substances Act, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was registered. The National Investigation Agency soon took over the probe. On August 7, the NIA in Kochi re-registered the case, charging 24 people for "organizing a terrorist camp, training youth in the use of explosives and weapons, and endangering the unity and integrity of the nation". The accused included leaders of the PFI and its political offshoot, the Social Democratic Party of India.