The story so far: On Friday, September 23, the dawn-to-dusk hartal organised by the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Kerala in response to large-scale arrests of its leaders by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was marked by sporadic incidents of violence, with some police officials being attacked in Kollam and interstate-buses being targeted in Kannur.
In a sweeping crackdown on Thursday, the NIA, in joint operations with the Enforcement Directorate and State police departments, arrested more than 100 top leaders and functionaries of the PFI across 11 states including Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Assam, based on allegations that the accused were funding terror acts, organising weapon training camps and radicalising people to join banned outfits.
