New files reveal money power, member strength, global reach of PFI in unprecedented detail
Enforcement Directorate (ED) has shown the rising reach and power of the Popular Front of India (PFI), the organisation at the centre of several ongoing probe being done by various agencies, ToI reported on October 21.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested KA Rauf Sherif, general secretary of the Campus Front of India (CFI), in December 2020, marking the beginning of a multi-agency investigation into the Popular Front of India (PFI). A dossier prepared by ED after a four-year probe detailed that PFI has numerous members and offices in states including Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, and Manipur.
PFI, banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2022 after an attempted attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July of that year, reportedly has 13,000 members in Singapore and five Gulf countries. According to the dossier, funds are collected in cash from «unknown donors» and sent to India through hawala channels. These funds are then deposited in 29 bank accounts of trusts and affiliated entities.
The investigation has led to the arrests of 26 top office bearers and the seizure of properties and bank accounts in India and abroad, with a terrorist camp uncovered in Kerala. The dossier also linked PFI to the Delhi riots, the Hathras unrest, and the attack attempt on PM Modi during a rally in Patna in July 2022.
Prominent arrests include Rauf Sherif of CFI, Shafeeque Payeth from Qatar, Delhi PFI president Perwez
