ED attaches eight PFI properties worth Rs 67 crore in Kerala
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New Delhi: In a major move against terror funding, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached eight immovable properties valued at Rs 67.03 crore owned and controlled by the Popular Front of India (PFI), officials said on Saturday.
The properties were held in the names of various trusts as well as PFI’s political front, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). The attachments were carried out under an order dated November 6.
The properties attached include those registered under Green Valley Foundation, Alappuzha Social Cultural and Education Trust, Pandalam Educational and Cultural Trust, Pathanamthitta, Islamic Centre Trust, Wayanad, Haritham Foundation, Poovanchina, Malappuram, Periyar Valley Charitable Trust, Aluva, Vallavunad Trust, Palakkad, and land belonging to SDPI in Trivandrum.
According to the ED, the agency has already provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs 61.98 crore through nine Provisional Attachment Orders (PAOs), which have been confirmed by the Ld. Adjudicating Authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). With the present attachment of Rs 67.03 crore, the total assets attached in this case now amount to Rs 129 crore.
An ED official said that the seized records indicate PFI was conducting multiple Physical Education (PE) training programmes and constructing sheds on various properties, including Valluvanad House Pattambi and Malabar House (Haritham Foundation), now attached by the ED.
The training programmes involved Physical Education classes registered under dummy owners’ names and included offensive and defensive manoeuvres with various arms, targeting cadres and members for fulfilling a jihadist agenda and committing unlawful activities, the ED stated.
Investigations further revealed that PFI ideologues were former members of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which had functioned as the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. The ED noted that PFI’s origin traces back to the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami following the Babri Masjid demolition. At that time, properties belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami were attached and sealed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Taking inspiration from these developments, senior PFI members who were part of the National Development Front (NDF) deliberately formed various trusts across Kerala and registered properties under these trusts, effectively bringing them under PFI’s control, the ED said.
With IANS inputs