NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached eight more immovable properties worth Rs 67.03 crore of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI). The properties were held in the name of various trusts and that of its political front – the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).
Earlier, searches by the ED led to the seizure of multiple records maintained by the PFI. “Seized records also revealed that PFI conducted multiple PE (Physical Education) training programmes and built sheds on various properties. Examples are Valluvanad House Pattambi and Malabar house (Haritam Foundation) which have been currently attached,” the agency said.
The PFI was conducting extensive physical education classes on properties registered under dummy owners’ names to impart offensive and defensive manoeuvres using various arms, said the ED. The classes were aimed at preparing cadres and members for fulfilling their jihadist agenda and using them for committing various unlawful activities, it added.
“Investigation revealed that the office bearers, members and cadres of PFI, were conspiring and raising/collecting funds from within India and abroad through banking channels, Hawala, donations etc. for committing and financing terrorist acts across India,” the agency said in a statement.
Funds to the tune of Rs 131 crore have been collected by the PFI and SDPI in the garb of relief and social activities, it said.
“The proceeds were used for furtherance of criminal conspiracy to carry out violent and terrorist activities in India to achieve the goal of forming an Islamic Nation of India, jeopardising our secular fabric and disrupting the unity and integrity of the nation,” the agency said.
Earlier, the ED had attached movable and immovable properties valued at Rs 61.98 crore. The total attachments in this case now amount to Rs 129 crore.
The agency started a probe against the PFI and others under PMLA, 2002 on the basis of an FIR registered by the NIA, along with various FIRs registered by other law enforcement agencies.
Further, investigations revealed that the SDPI is the political front of the PFI, which used to control, fund and supervise its activities, it said.
The SDPI was heavily dependent on the PFI for its day-to-day functions, policy making, selecting candidates for election, public programs, cadre mobilization and other related activities.
Additionally, investigations also revealed that the expenses made by the PFI, for and on behalf of the SDPI, were maintained secretly in diaries and not reflected in its bank accounts, said the ED.
So far, 28 leaders, members and cadres of the PFI have been arrested by the ED and multiple prosecution complaints in this regard have been filed before the courts.
Those arrested include National President of SDPI MK Faizy, the Chairman, General Secretary, office bearers, and members of both the National and State Executive Councils (NEC & SEC) of the PFI, as well as physical education coordinators and trainers who were providing weapons training to PFI members and cadres.
During the probe, the ED said it found that PFI ideologues were ex-Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) members. SIMI was the student’s wings of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The origin of the PFI can be traced back to the ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami after the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
At that time, properties of the Jamaat-e-Islami were attached and sealed under UA(P)A. Taking inspiration from these developments, senior PFI members, who were part of the National Development Front (NDF) at that time, deliberately formed various trusts all across Kerala and registered properties owned and controlled by the PFI under them.