Bengaluru: NIA accuses PFI,SDPI of terrorism in murder of RSS worker

National Investigative Agency (NIA) has called the murder of RSS member R Rudresh by PFI and SDPI a "clear act of terrorism" in a charge sheet filed to Special NIA Court.

Ashish Pandey  | Edited by Niharika Banerjee
Bengaluru, January 6, 2018 | UPDATED 23:05 IST
Image only for representation.Image only for representation.

Highlights

  • 1
    NIA has accused PFI, SDPI of terrorism in relation to murder of RSS activist.
  • 2
    Charge sheet said that murderers were motivated by jihad to eliminate kafirs.
  • 3
    Accused had attended indoctrination classes where videos of communal riots were shown to raise passions.

The National Investigative Agency (NIA) has called the murder of RSS member R Rudresh a "clear act of terrorism" in a charge sheet filed to Special NIA Court in Bengaluru.

The five accused members of Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliated political organization the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) planned to target two RSS workers in uniform, the charge sheet said, "to strike terror among the members of that organisation."

The charge sheet further said that the indoctrination of the members was done to make them believe that the act of killing RSS members was part of Jihad by eliminating kafirs and establishing the Islamic Caliphate in India.

The investigation has revealed that eight to nine months prior to the incident, all the accused had attended indoctrination classes where videos of communal riots, especially Muzaffar-nagar and Dadri incidents, were shown to raise passions against RSS.

They even used examples of neighbouring states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu where PFI members were successful in killing RSS members.

On October 16, 2016, RSS member R Rudresh in uniform was murdered using a lethal weapon near Aksa Masjid and Chota Charminar in Bengaluru.

Recently, the Bhartiya Janta Party alleged that around 20 RSS activists have been killed in Karnataka by PFI activists.