TIRUNELVELI
As part of its nationwide coordinated searches in the houses of Popular Front of India and Social Democratic Party of India office-bearers and a few madarasas, the NIA team conducted searches in one place each in Tirunelveli and Tenkasi district on Thursday.
The Central Reserve Police Force, who were deployed on the premises of a madarasa at Ervadi near Valliyoor, was protecting Inspector Srinivasan-led NIA team searching the place of worship since early morning. The NIA team neither allowed anyone to leave the madarasa during the search nor to enter.
Apart from the religious literature, the searchers took the COVID-19 protocol pamphlets, which were circulated among the public when the pandemic was spreading like wildfire, people associated with the madarasa said..
Led by ASP, Nanguneri, Rajat Chathurvedi, the police were deployed around the madarasa who stopped the public 150 metres away from the madarasa.
Similar search was conducted in the house of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, national executive committee member of Popular Front of India, in Paimpozhil (popularly known as Panpozhi) in Tenkasi district since 3 a.m. in his absence and grilled his family members even as the CRPF personnel were giving protection.
When a group of PFI cadre staged demonstration near Paimpozhil dargah in protest against the raid, the police arrested 25 protesters. In the road roko held at Melapalayam, the police detained 30 protesters.
Condemning the searches, state president of Social Democratic Party of India Nellai Mubarak said the Narendra Modi-led Union Government was training its manpower including the departments of Income Tax, CBI, NIA and the Enforcement Directorate to decimate its political opponents and silence the dissent voices arising against the BJP government at the Centre.
The NIA, after conducting searches in the house of SDPI office-bearer Najma in Madurai even without a lady constable, had announced that they had seized a ‘cash bag’ from her house and arrested her husband Idris who was not present in his house when the search was conducted.
“It’s nothing but coercion,” said Mr. Mubarak.
