The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches on Thursday at 12 locations across 10 states in connection with the money-laundering case against the SDPI, the political arm of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI).
The searches were carried out at the SDPI officers in Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. It came days after the central probe agency arrested SDPI national president M.K. Faizy at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday. He is accused of skipping multiple summons.
“Being the national president, Faizy exercised authority and control over the activities of the SDPI, which is a recipient, beneficiary, and user of proceeds of crime, that is funds raised by the PFI within and outside India as a part of a larger criminal conspiracy,” said an ED official.
“The PFI is engaged in fund-raising activities as part of a deep-rooted criminal conspiracy involving violent and terrorist activities in India,” the official added.
The ED had claimed then that there existed an “organic” relation between the two outfits and that the PFI was carrying out its criminal activities through the SDPI.
The Centre banned the PFI in 2022, calling it an unlawful association and accusing it
of indulging in terrorist activities. The SDPI was founded in 2009.
