Police arrest Indian Muslims protesting against Citizenship Amendment Act in New Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate is probing a series of financial transactions involving Popular Front of India (PFI) as part of a widening probe into the alleged role of the controversial Islamist outfit in fanning anti-CAA protests.

A preliminary probe done by the anti-money laundering agency has established a suspicious pattern of deposits into and withdrawal of money from PFI’s accounts. The ED has claimed that Rs 1.04 crore was deposited in 10 accounts of PFI and five belonging to another entity, Rehab India Foundation, between December 4 last year and January 6 when protests against the change in the citizenship law were most intense in UP and elsewhere. The period saw Rs 1.34 crore being withdrawn from the accounts in multiple small transactions: ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000, between December 4 and January 6.

A scrutiny of transactions from PFI’s account in Syndicate Bank’s Nehru Place branch in New Delhi showed multiple cash deposits totalling Rs 41.5 crore from 27 accounts in the districts of Hapur, Shamli, Dasna and Bijnor in western UP, as well as Bahraich.

The PFI denied the allegations with its general secretary M Muhammed Ali Jinnah saying the claims were absurd and a face-saving act by the Uttar Pradesh police.

These details are part of a report the ED submitted to the home ministry on Sunday evening. The ministry is seized of a recommendation by the UP government to declare the PFI unlawful in the light of its alleged role in inciting violence in the state during the anti-CAA agitation. The ED’s preliminary report will serve to reinforce UP’s demand to declare the PFI unlawful.

“Withdrawal of money from the bank accounts of PFI and its related entities has direct correlation with a violent demonstration against the CAA. The transaction dates in the 15 bank accounts of the PFI also match the dates of violence. This draws a clear connection between the violent protests and PFI,” the ED said in its report to the MHA.

The report also mentioned a payment of Rs 1.17 crore made by PFI to Jothi group, a plastic making firm. “Since PFI and the company are working in two different areas, the nature and reason for this transaction is under investigation. A transaction of Rs 20 lakh between Rehab India Foundation and another firm is also under the scanner,” it added.

The report also mentioned a payment of Rs 3.1 lakh to a terror accused named Abdul Samad who was arrested two weeks ago by Delhi Police’s special cell. Investigation by the special cell, sources claimed, found that Samad was associated with PFI and was inspired by the Islamic State’s objective of establishing a global Caliphate.

The UP government’s allegations, along with the ED’s preliminary findings into “dubious” sources of PFI’s funds, mark yet another evidence of the growing reach of the hardcore Islamist outfit outside south India where it was confined until a few years ago. Of those arrested by UP police for violence against the new citizenship law, 25 allegedly belong to PFI.

The PFI has been under the scanner of intelligence agencies and the National Investigation Agency for three years now. The outfit was formed in 2006 as a successor to the fundamentalist outfit National Democratic Front (NDF) which was banned for its alleged involvement in acts of terror. The agencies have informed the government and police forces that the federation was an offshoot of Students Islamic Movement of India, another outlawed Islamist outfit which agencies have accused of being the feeder for recruits to terrorist groups like Indian Mujahideen.