New Delhi. Intelligence agencies are probing the alleged role of Press Club of India (PCI) in helping extremists and other banned organizations organize press talks and events. Sources in the Intelligence Bureau said that Popular Front of India (PFI) member Siddique Kappan was also a member of PCI and he helped his colleagues in holding a press conference at the club. helped. Kappan was arrested on October 5, 2020, under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly inciting communal riots in Hathras.
According to sources, the IB had recently sent a team to the PCI office and questioned the staff and others to gather information about press conferences organized by PFI and other banned organisations. IB officials are collecting information about press conferences held at PCI in the last two years which were organized by ultra-Left, Islamist groups and banned organisations. As per information, a press conference was organized at PCI on 8th October. Although it was reportedly organized by the All India Students’ Association (AISA) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, the IB believes it was actually organized by the Campus Front of India, a wing of the PFI . In this press conference, the speakers demanded repeal of UAPA.
Delhi riots accused Khalid Saifi’s wife Nargis, journalist Neha Dixit, DU teachers Nandini Sundar, Nandita Narayan and Jenny Rowena P, RJD MP Manoj Jha, CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and AISA Delhi Secretary Neha Bora were present at the press conference. IB sources further claimed that since PFI is now banned, they are contacting different clubs who allegedly help them arrange meetings in the guise of other organisations.
