RANCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted raids in the office of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) located in Jharkhand’s Pakur.
According to sources, the raid is linked to the recent arrest of SDPI National President MK Faizi from Delhi Airport on Monday. The raid is being conducted on the basis of the evidence collected during the investigation of money laundering following the arrest of Faizi, they said.
Recently, SDPI members had also staged a protest against Faizi’s arrest, terming it inappropriate.
Locals informed that the raid started at around 10 am on Thursday and is still ongoing. A large number of police personnel are present at the SDPI office with the ED team.
Notably, SDPI was founded in 2009 and was earlier associated with the Popular Front of India (PFI), which was banned by the central government a few years ago. However, SDPI has denied any such connection with PFI and has described itself as an independent organisation.
Interestingly, Hanjela Sheikh, who is the state president of SDPI, once happened to be the state president of PFI as well.