MANGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided the Freedom Community Hall at Mittur in Bantwal taluk on Friday, on the suspicion that Popular Front of India (PFI) activists were being imparted terror training there. The central agency arrested one of the hall trustees, Ayub Agnadi, while another trustee, Masood Agnadi, is absconding.
The NIA suspected that many youths were trained at the Freedom Community Hall which was started in 2007 in the name of a trust. It is believed that those involved in the DJ Halli-KJ Halli riots were also trained here.
During its investigation, the NIA found that there was a link between the killing of RSS leader Sharath Madiwala and the Freedom Community Hall trustees. The NIA has issued a seizure notice, and the hall is expected to be sealed within a few days.
The hall was the hub for all its activities. The trustees of the hall, along with PFI and CFI workers, held programmes like scholarship distribution and Vanamahotsava, summer camps, and PFI state and district conventions.
The trustees of the hall were also prominent leaders of the PFI. The police had taken the 2017 Kalladka riot suspects into custody from the community hall. At the time of the arrests, Sudhir Kumar Reddy, the DK District SP, was in charge of the operation.