Clarion India
NEW DELHI — The National Investigation Agency (NIA), on Saturday, raided the house of Ansar Indori, the known human rights lawyer for appearing in a case challenging a first information report filed by the agency ten days back.
Indori’s Kota premises in Rajasthan were among the several locations the agency raided in the state. The raids are related to a Popular Front of India (PFI) case the agency had filed last year, reports The Wire.
An NIA spokesperson is reported in the media to inform that digital devices, an airgun, sharp weapons and incriminating documents were seized by the agency in he early raid at Indori’s Kota house. The raid lasted for three hours.
Books were also taken. Among books seized are Bhopal-based writer L.S. Hardenia’s famous work on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, two human rights reports on Kashmir, a report titled ‘Zindabad Murdabad Ke Bich Fansi Deshbhakti’ by the Rihai Manch, and a report by the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations,according to the report.
The NIA also took Indori to a local police station for interrogation, but released him in an hour. A well-known lawyer, Indori has led many a legal battle against human rights violations in the Supreme Court and in various high courts.
According to agency sources reported in the media the case is related to information received from sources that Sadiq Sarraf, resident of Baran and Mohammed Asif of Kota, along with officer bearers, members and cadres of PFI were indulging in unlawful activities.
After the NIA registered an FIR against some PFI leaders last year, some of the accused had challenged the charges in the Rajasthan high court. Indori appeared as a defence lawyer in the case on February 7.
“I believe the raid is to harass me after I challenged their FIR. It is an attempt to threaten or falsely implicate me given my fight for human rights,” Indori told The Wire.
This is not the first instance when Indori has been harassed by government agencies for his work. In October 2021, he visited Tripura with a fact-finding team to probe atrocities against Muslims. Published on November 2, the report titled ‘Humanity Under Attack in Tripura, #Muslim Lives Matter’ highlighted violence against Muslims in the state.
A day later, an FIR was registered against him and several others under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA) and several provisions of IPC.
