PFI member, accused of firing at police during anti-CAA protest, arrested in Meerut

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New Delhi: The Lisari gate police in Meerut arrested Anees Khalifa, a Popular Front of India (PFI) member accused of violence during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in the state on December 20.

According to the police, the accused had lost his brother in the 1987 communal riots and the protests on December 20 gave him an opportunity to take revenge on the police. 

Anees Khalifa has been accused of firing at the police and also providing arms and ammunition to other protesters. There was a reward of Rs 20,000 on him..

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh has sought a ban on PFI. The Yogi Aditynath-led government has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seeking a ban on PFI, an organisation that is said to have played a key role in triggering violence during the recent anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in the state. 

According to sources, the MHA has received UP government's proposal calling for the ban and is likely to take legal opinion before imposing a ban on the front. 

On January 1, UP's Minority Minister Mohsin Raza accused PFI of misleading the Muslim youths and spreading Islamic extremism in the country. He also called it a front for the banned group SIMI and claimed that the organisation received its funding from Pakistan's intelligence wing ISI.