Delhi Police on high alert after Centre bans PFI

New Delhi: As a result of the Centre's five-year ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI), the Delhi Police is on high alert in order to maintain the law and order situation.

There has been an increase in police activity in different parts of Delhi. Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) in different districts have also taken to the streets to assess the situation.

In the North East district, where the riots happened in 2020, a mixed population of communities resides. The Delhi Police had arrested five people linked to PFI in the area recently.

On Wednesday, DCP Sanjay Kumar told news agency ANI, "We are on alert mode. We are ready to handle any situation. North East district has been put under active Yellow scheme, Orange scheme and Red scheme. Today, an exercise was conducted in North East district to check the effectiveness of the Yellow Scheme which is meant to deal with any exigency in the district."

In the Yellow scheme, the ACPs and SHOs move to the scene of the disturbance as soon as they receive a message. Another reserve component of the force is placed on high alert at the same time. According to the official, Vajra, water canons, and other resources are also moved to the target point.

If the situation worsens in one police station area, the Orange scheme is implemented in three to four other police station areas. When the entire district is affected, the Red scheme becomes active.

To ensure that any untoward incident can be dealt with as soon as possible, the Delhi Police will deploy additional police forces in sensitive areas of the national capital.

North West district DCP and other district DCPs carried out patrolling in their respective jurisdictions.

The Centre on Wednesday banned the Popular Front of India (PFI) for five years under the strict anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, accusing the Islamic outfit of having "links" with global terror groups like ISIS and attempting to spreading communal hatred in the country.

Recently, the National Investigating Agency (NIA), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and various state police forces conducted raids in a massive pan-India crackdown on the PFI.

A total of 106 PFI leaders and activists were arrested on September 22 in 15 states for allegedly supporting terror activities. Over 170 people allegedly linked with the PFI were detained or arrested in raids across seven states on September 27.

The Centre has instructed the States and the Union Territories (UTs) to "exercise" powers of the UAPA against the outfit and its affiliates.