Lucknow, Feb 19 (IANS): The two members of Popular Front of India (PFI), who were arrested in Lucknow on Tuesday, were in contact with Bangladesh-based terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen.

Uttar Pradesh STF officials said that the two -- Asad Badruddin and Feroz Khan -- had also visited Bangladesh in the past and arranged explosives to execute the terror attacks.

The two members were planning a series of terrorist attacks at various places in the country when they were arrested by the Special Task Force with a huge quantity of high-end explosives.

Additional Director General Law and Order, Prashant Kumar told the media: "Both the arrested PFI members are from Kerala and their aim was to create religious enmity in society by engineering attacks."

The duo, during their interrogation, accepted that they were preparing a huge network with the help of PFI members based in Lucknow, Bahraich, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Meerut.

The team of 20-25 people were named 'hit squads' and were given training on how to use weapons.

PFI, which claims to be a social youth organization based in Kerala, has been under the scanner of police in several states.

In 2019, many of its members were arrested across the state of Uttar Pradesh in connection with violent anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) protests.

The Uttar Pradesh government earlier sought a ban on the PFI accusing it of inciting violence.