Controversy erupts in Kerala over fire force officials giving training to PFI workers

|HT|

A controversy erupted in Kerala after the state's fire force officials were seen giving training to workers of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Kozhikode city last week. The photos of the training went viral on social media. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Surendran was the first to comment on the controversy.

“Kerala Fire & Rescue Service gave training to the members of the radical Islamic outfit Popular Front of India. PFI and SDPI are involved in several terrorist activities. The Pinarayi Vijayan government is giving a red carpet for these Jihadi forces,” Surendran tweeted and tagged Union home minister Amit Shah.

The Kerala government had asked the DGP of the fire force B Sandhya to submit a report on the incident. In her report, Sandhya said it was a big lapse on the part of the force and sought action against the officials who were involved. However, the officials have said that they were invited to a cultural fest of the PFI in Kozhikode and gave tips on rescue efforts when some workers of the organisation sought the same.

The PFI is a fundamentalist outfit founded in Kerala in early 2000 and has its units in other states as well. Its role has been suspected in many stirs including the hijab row in the neighbouring state of Karnataka.

The PFI's political wing is the Social Democratic Front of India (SDPI).

Last month, a civil police officer was dismissed from service in the Idukki district for leaking vital information from the police database to SDPI leaders.

During the internal probe, it was found that PK Anas of Karimanoor police station leaked personal details of 150 BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers in the district to the SDPI.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)