The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has attached Green Valley Academy at Manjery in Kerala’s Malappuram district, which is  allegedly controlled by the banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).

According to the NIA, the Green Valley was one of the oldest and largest arms training centres of PFI in Kerala. It was started during the period of National Development Front, a former organisation of PFI, in 1994.

The NIA said that the training centre was spread over 10 hectares of land at Manjeri in Malappuram and operated under the cover of Green Valley Academy.

According to NIA’s claims, PFI utilized the academy for providing arms and physical training as well as ideological indoctrination in their divisive and communal agenda. The facility was also used to shelter PFI Service Wing members after they committed various crimes, including murders.

“The PFI had been using the property for imparting arms training, physical training, and training on use and testing of explosives to its cadres, identified as part of their ‘Service Wing’. The facility was also used to harbour several PFI Service Wing members after they committed crimes, including murders,” the NIA said in a press release.

It said the PFI used the centre to impart “radical and rabid ideological training in PFI’s divisive and communal agenda and policies to its trained operatives, cadres and members. Offices of the PFI and its frontal organisations were functioning from these premises under the guise of imparting education and personality development skills.”

The big move has been made as part of  the broader crackdown on terrorist activities linked to PFI across the country The NIA filed a Charge sheet against 59 accused, including PFI as an organization, in the case (RC-02/2022/NIA/KOC) on March 17, 2023. Following the ongoing investigations, the NIA seized the Green Valley Academy at Manjery.

Prior to this, the NIA had attached five other PFI training centres in Kerala – Malabar House, Periyar Valley, Valluvanad House, Karunya Charitable Trust, and Trivandrum Education and Service Trust (TEST).

BJP Kerala president K Surendran said that NIA’s confiscation of Green Valley Academy at Manjeri is a slap on the face of the LDF government in Kerala.

He alleged that the Kerala Police took a soft approach to the  PFI on the instructions of the CPI-M. Green Valley, the headquarters of terrorist activities in India, was not sealed by the police because of vote bank political interests, Surendran said.

Surendran also said that it is clear that the CPI-M is supporting Speaker AN Shamsir’s “anti-Hindu” remarks targeting the Popular Front cadres and Muslim votes.