A dispute has erupted over Kerala Fire Force authorities educating PFI employees

A dispute emerged in Kerala last week after personnel from the state's fire department were seen training workers from the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Kozhikode. Social media users went crazy over the photographs of the training.

K Surendran, state head of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was the first to react on the incident.

"Kerala Fire & Rescue Service gave training to the members of the radical Islamic outfit Popular Front of India. PFI and SDPI are involved in several terrorist activities. The Pinarayi Vijayan government is giving a red carpet for these Jihadi forces," Surendran tweeted, tagging Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Kerala government had requested that the fire department's DGP, B Sandhya, provide a report on the occurrence. Sandhya stated in her report that it was a major blunder on the part of the force and demanded punishment against the officers involved.

However, officials have stated that they were invited to the PFI's cultural fiesta in Kozhikode and provided advice on rescue attempts when some of the organization's employees requested assistance.

The PFI is a fundamentalist organisation that was created in Kerala in the early 2000s and has branches in other states as well. Its involvement has been suspected in a number of controversies, including the hijab controversy in the neighbouring state of Karnataka.

The Social Democratic Front of India is the political branch of the PFI (SDPI).

Last month, a civil police officer in the Idukki district was fired for leaking important information from the police database to SDPI officials.

During the internal investigation, it was discovered that PK Anas of Karimanoor police station supplied personal information to the SDPI about 150 BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteers in the area.