PFI, linked entities received over Rs 120 crore funds: ED tells court

The Popular Front of India (PFI) had received over Rs. 120 crore in its accounts and of its related entities over the years for unlawful activities, said the Enforcement Department to a special court in Lucknow. The agency also told the court that the accused planned to form a terrorist gang to cause disturbance during PM Narendra Modi’s visit in Patna in July. Meanwhile, a special court in Kochi granted the custody of 11 PFI functionaries — arrested on Thursday — to NIA till September 30.

ED seeks remand under PMLA

Many PFI members based abroad have been found to be sending funds to their NRI accounts in India and subsequently transferring them to the leaders of the organisation so as to evade the foreign funding regulation law, the ED had said Friday, a day after raids across 15 states against the Muslim-managed outfit. The ED in its remand application said that it was probing the PFI and related entities under sections of PMLA based on the cases filed by the NIA. The prober officer said that a large part of the money deposited to the accounts related to PFI were cash deposits. The ED alleged funds collected by the PFI abroad “are remitted to India through hawala/underground channels and through remittances sent to the accounts of members/activists/office bearers of PFI/CFI and other related organisations.”

‘Connection with Delhi riots, Hathras gang-rape case’

The agency also linked the case to the February 2020 Delhi riots and the Hathras rape case. It said that the members of PFI and Campus Front of India (CFI) visited the sites to spread communal divide. As per media reports, the group was involved in collecting weapons and explosives to launch attacks on several important figures and places in Uttar Pradesh.

‘Threat to country’s unity’

As per media reports, the remand application stated that the PFI members had prepared, printed and disseminated “incriminating literature. The literature had the “potential to pose a threat to the unity, integrity and sovereignty of the nation,” added the agency. The officer said that CFI general secretary as well as a PFI member, KA Rauf Sherif had conspired to fraudulently transfer Rs. 1.36 crore disguised as payment for goods.

Kappan connection

The ED arrested PFI leader Muhammed Shafeeque Payeth from Kozhikode in Kerala early on Thursday who allegedly told the agency that a PFI member in Qatar was the one to send the money. After this, Rauf, journalist Siddique Kappan, and two others were headed to Hathras to disturb communal harmony in October 2020 when UP Police arrested them. – INDIA NEWS STREAM