SUNDAY www.thestatesman.com 25 SEPTEMBER 2022 FIND US ONLINE Scan this with your smartphone twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd facebook.com/thestatesman1875 Pages 12 | `5.00 |LC* KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR Modi was on PFI radar in July 2020: ED WEATHER One or two spells of rain/ thundershower likely to occur in some areas. Temperature will be in the range of 3527 degrees Celsius. RAINFALL: 3.1mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max.92% TEMPERATURE Min. 53% Max:34.6 °C (+2) Min: 27.1°C (+1) SUN RISES SUN SETS 05:26 hrs 17:32 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 03:48 hrs 16:49 hrs New moon on 26 September THUMBNAILS Congress leader Rahul Gandhi waves to party supporters during the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' on its 16th day, in Thrissur on Saturday.  ANI NIA seizes ‘hit list' of PFI; says more action necessary to avoid bloodshed, NIA have seized documents & gadgets which divulged ‘shocking info’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI/ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 24 SEPTEMBER he Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that members of Popular Front of India (PFI) had allegedly collected a large amount of cash to the tune of Rs 120 crore to carry out attacks on important personalities, even as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claims to have turned up a PFI ‘hit list.’ ED sources claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also on the radar of PFI, which had planned to attack the Prime Minister during a rally in July 2020. However, due to some reason, the PFI didn’t go T India reacts sharply to Pak PM’s UN speech over J&K STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 24 SEPTEMBER India slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for his speech at the UN General Assembly, saying he has made charges against New Delhi to obfuscate misdeeds in his own country and to justify actions against India that the world considers unacceptable. Exercising its Right of Reply after Mr Sharif raised the Jammu and Kashmir issue at the world body, First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Mijito Vinito said, “It is regrettable that the Prime Minister of Pakistan has chosen the platform of this August assembly to make false accusations against India.” The Indian diplomat said; “A polity that claims it seeks peace with its neighbours would never sponsor crossborder terrorism, nor shelter planners of horrific Mumbai terrorist attack, disclosing their existence only under pressure from the international community.” Vinito said such a country would not make unjustified and untenable territorial claims against neighbours, it would not covet their lands and seek to illegally integrate them with its own. “But it is not just about the neighbourhood that we have heard false claims today. It is about human rights, about It is regrettable that the Prime Minister of Pakistan has chosen the platform of this August assembly to make false accusations against India MIJITO VINITO FIRST SECRETARY IN THE PERMANENT MISSION OF INDIA TO THE UN minority rights, and about basic decencies,” he said.“When young women in the thousands from the minority community are abducted as an SoP (Standard Operating Procedure) what can we conclude about the underlying mindset?” he asked. In his address, the Pakistan PM said Pakistan wanted peace with all its neighbours, including India, but added that a long-lasting, enduring peace could only be guaranteed through a just and fair solution to the issue of Kashmir under the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions. Shehbaz claimed that India's “illegal and unilateral” actions on 5 August 2019 to change the special status of Jammu and Kashmir further undermined the prospects of peace and inflamed regional tensions.“Pakistan needs a stable external environment. We look for peace with all our neighbours, including India. Sustainable peace and stability in South Asia, however, remains contingent upon a just and lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” he said. Ankita’s body found in Uttarakhand canal, BJP suspends father of accused SDRF personnel taking out the body of Ankita Bhandari from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh on Saturday.  ANI SNS & AGENCIES DEHRADUN, 24 SEPTEMBER The body of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, a staffer at an Uttarakhand resort who went missing a few days ago, was found on Saturday in a canal. The discovery prompted the BJP to suspend the father and brother of the prime accused in the murder case. The prime accused is BJP leader Vinod Arya’s son Pulkit, who was arrested with two others on Friday.The party has suspended Vinod Arya, a member of the national executive of BJP OBC Morcha, as well as his other son Ankit, a minister of state. Ankita, a resident of Dobh in Srikot, used to work at the resort owned by Pulkit Arya in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal. She went missing on 18 September.Following the recovery of the body from the Chilla canal, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered an SIT probe led by DIG P. Renuka Devi to probe the murder. Taking to Twitter, Dhami said: “Today morning, Ankita's body was recovered. Heart-broken with this heartwrenching incident.”The body has been handed over to the district police. On directions of the chief minister, the resort has been razed to the ground.Strict action will be taken against the officers who were involved in the illegal construction of the resort, Dhami said.“It is our resolve that those guilty of this heinous crime will not be spared,” he added. Ankita’s family had lodged a missing complaint on September 21 with the revenue police and on the District Magistrate's direction, the matter was transferred to regular police the next day. Taking cognisance of the incident, Ashok Kumar, Director General of Police, Uttarakhand, had directed the Superintendent of Police, Pauri for a speedy investigation into the incident.Following the arrest of the accused, they told the police that after murdering Ankita, they threw her body in the canal. MASSIVE CRACKDOWN ED sources said that around Rs 120 crore were collected by the PFI to carry out attacks and create unrest and riotlike situation in the country  The NIA reportedly found that the PFI has prepared a ‘hit list’ targeting eminent personalities of a particular community  The sources said that PFI has scores of active members in the Gulf countries  Some part of the money was allegedly  ahead with the plan. The sources claimed that the PFI members had planned to The PFI activists whose custody was handed over to the NIA coming out of an NIA special court in Kochi on Saturday.  ANI used in North-East Delhi riots in 2020. organise a training camp to execute an attack on Mr Modi.The sources said that around Rs 120 crore were collected by the PFI to carry out attacks and create unrest and riot-like situation in the country. The joint teams of the National Investigative Agency (NIA) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested over 106 PFI members in multiple raids spread across several states on 22 September in an operation that was code-named“Operation Octopus”. The NIA, meanwhile, is said to have seized documents and gadgets which divulged shocking information during the raids conducted at the offices of the Popular Front of India (PFI) and residences of its leaders, From the seized documents, the NIA reportedly found that the Popular Front of India (PFI) has prepared a ‘hit list’ targeting eminent personalities of a particular community. Submitting these documents including the ‘hit list’ before an NIA court in Kochi, Kerala, the agency has sought follow-up action in order to avoid bloodshed. The NIA seeks to extend probe over the persons who prepared the ‘hit list’ and PFI followers who had worked for it. Though the names of the leaders included in the hit list is not revealed by the NIA, it is learnt that prominent leaders’ names are there in the list. Kerala Police had also received a similar information regarding ‘hit list’prepared by PFI, following the political murders reported in Alappuzha and Palakkad some months back.The NIA’s recent findings back the information unearthed by the Kerala police. The NIA also alleged in its remand copy submitted to the court that the Popular Front of India (PFI), its office bearers, members and affiliates in Kerala encouraged vulnerable youths to join terrorist organisations including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT ), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Daesh and AlQaida and also conspired to establish Islamic rule in India by committing a terrorist act. The Central agency also accused the PFI's members and cadres operating from Kerala to conspire to indulge in “unlawful activ- ities by creating enmity between members of different religions and groups, prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, with the intention to disrupt public tranquillity and cause disaffection against India”. More arrests and raids are expected as the documents and evidences have been submitted in the NIA special court in Kochi, by the NIA. The ED had arrested a PFI member named Shafeequr Payeth from Kerala, who was produced before a special court in Lucknow on Friday. The remand note of the ED said that the PFI was planning to carry out attacks on important personalities.The sources also said that PFI has scores of active members in the Gulf countries.