National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials are searching four places related to Popular Front of India (PFI) members in Bengaluru. Searches are being conducted in other towns in Karnataka as well, including Mangaluru and Mysuru.
The Karnataka police were conducting simultaneous operations in eight districts — Bengaluru, Mysuru, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Kalaburagi, Davanagere, Raichur and Koppal in what Home Minister Araga Jnanendra described as the first steps towards a ban on the PFI and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).
In Bengaluru, several teams of NIA, accompanied by the local police, searched various places in Bagalur, Richmond Road, Padarayanapura and Fraser Town. While the operation was under way, PFI members staged a protest outside an apartment on Richmond Road and shouted ‘Go back NIA’ slogans.
