Raids on ex-PFI members' locations in Kerala by ED
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New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids have been initiated at multiple locations across Kerala linked to former members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) outfit reportedly over suspicious hawala transactions.
As per ED sources, PFI sleeper cells were active in the the state and the central probe agency is looking into the suspicious foreign Hawala money transactions through which the former members were allegedly conducting activities across the country., news agency IANS reported
The raids that began on Monday morning are ongoing at 12 locations in Ernakulam, Wayanad, Thrissur, and Malappuram districts .
Visuals have been captured by some of an ED team reaching the house of Latif Pokakilamthi, a former district office bearer of the PFI.
On learning that despite the ban, PFI operatives were receiving hawala funds, the ED probed further to discover that the money was reaching the PFI leaders through Hawala channels.
"All transactions were reported in Kerala; they originated from abroad and were conducted via Hawala channels. Upon discovering this, we initiated an investigation to trace the source of the money," IANS quoted an ED source as saying.
Raids were also reported as being conducted on suspected activities of PFI-linked individuals in Wayanad, Kumbalam, Ernakulam and Areekod, Malappuram
A team of officials from the Kochi office of the ED was assisting in the searches.
As of now, the ED has not officially commented on the matter.