The National Investigation Agency told a special court in Kochi, Kerala, that they recovered multiple hit lists from the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) that contained the names of 977 individuals, including a former District Judge.

According to the NIA’s submission, the PFI had a dedicated unit called the Reporters Wing, which worked like a quasi-intelligence group and collected private and personal information about individuals from other communities, particularly from the Hindu community.

This information included names, ages, photos, positions held and even day-to-day activities.

The NIA said that the data was compiled at the district level and passed on to the PFI’s state hierarchy. They said the information was updated regularly and used to target individuals as and when required by the terrorist gang.

The agency also said that PFI operated three covert wings, including the Reporters Wing, the Physical and Arms Training Wing known as PE and the Service Wing, also called Hit Teams.

Documents showed that the Periyar Valley Campus, which the NIA had attached, functioned as an alleged arms training centre for the banned organisation. The agency revealed this information while opposing the bail pleas of Muhammad Bilal and Riyasudheen, who were accused in the 2022 murder of RSS leader Srinivasan in Palakkad.

RSS leader Srinivasan was killed on April 16 2022, at his motorbike shop in Palakkad.

The NIA said the murder of Srinivasan formed part of a broader conspiracy by the PFI to commit acts of terror in support of its radical agenda. The murder was allegedly carried out in retaliation for the killing of Social Democratic Party of India activist Subair.

The SDPI worker was returning from a mosque at around 1.30 am when a car hit his vehicle from behind.

The passengers got down from the car and allegedly hacked him to death.