A Special NIA court has rejected the bail plea of Ashraf alias Karamanna Ashraf Moulavi, national in-charge of the education wing of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), holding that there are reasonable grounds to believe the allegations against him are prima facie true and serious.
NIA Court judge MK Mohandas passed the order on Friday while hearing Ashraf’s application for bail in a case relating to alleged anti-national activities of the PFI, including the murder of RSS leader Sreenivasan in Palakkad.
Opposing the plea, the National Investigation Agency submitted that Ashraf had organised arms training for PFI cadres at Periyar Valley in Kochi and at the Trivandrum Educational Services Trust (TEST) as preparation for terrorist acts.
The court order, referring to the agency’s submissions, noted that statements of protected witnesses indicated that Ashraf, along with other accused, conducted armed training through co-accused Muhammad Mubarak. During a search of Mubarak’s residence on December 29, 2022, three swords and an axe were allegedly seized.
The NIA further stated that the axe resembled weapons used by PFI cadres in the hand-chopping case of a Kerala professor.
According to the prosecution, Ashraf was also part of the conspiracy behind the murder of Sreenivasan. Witness statements claimed that he conducted arms training at TEST in Thiruvananthapuram.
The agency additionally alleged that Ashraf delivered speeches propagating ISIS ideology. Protected witnesses stated that he incited them to carry out jihad against “kafirs”, which was said to be corroborated by ISIS-related materials recovered from his pen drive.
The NIA told the court that the pen drive contained ISIS videos and images, handwritten notes on financial transactions linked to accused in various murder cases, a list of leaders of the RSS and other Hindu organisations, and notes regarding the storage of knives, swords, iron bars and bombs.
Counsel for Ashraf argued that he had been in judicial custody for more than three-and-a-half years and that his arrest was not carried out in accordance with law, with the grounds of arrest not properly communicated.
The defence also submitted that Ashraf is a senior citizen suffering from multiple health issues and has been repeatedly hospitalised.
It was further contended that the NIA suppressed the findings of the state police in the Sreenivasan murder case and wrongly portrayed the incident, which the defence claimed was an act of political retaliation.
The defence questioned the validity of the search and recovery, arguing that it was not conducted in Ashraf’s presence. It also submitted that the NIA primarily relied on a voice clip allegedly recovered from a co-accused’s phone to support claims about an “India 2047” agenda.
After examining the materials and hearing both sides, the court held that the accusations were supported by witness statements and other evidence on record.
“In this case, apart from the statements of witnesses, there are materials which prima facie suggest that the petitioner had an active role in the commission of the offence,” the court observed.
Noting that the charge sheet has been filed and the case is fit for trial, the court dismissed the bail plea.
The NIA registered the case in 2022 and has so far filed a charge sheet against 65 persons. Of the 56 accused arrested, 50 have been granted bail.
