The Patiala House Court in Delhi has remanded Sahul Hameed, who was arrested in Madurai, to 10 days of remand in connection with a probe into banned organisation Popular Front of India‘s (PFI) money-laundering activities. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had stated that Hameed was attempting to collect illegal money for the PFI from Singapore and other locations through legitimate and unauthorised channels. He was deported to India after being intercepted, during which he was unable to account for certain actions related to collecting funds from the PFI. The accused has been non-cooperative until now, prompting a court to grant the ED custody of Hameed.
The charges against Hameed are part of a case filed against various PFI office bearers in Delhi‘s special court, where ED had filed a complaint for the alleged use of funds for illegal activities and inciting violence at North East Delhi in February 2020. The investigation into PFI’s money laundering activities has shown that its office bearers conspired to raise secret funds from within and outside India, depositing them into bank accounts that were allegedly free from suspicion and illegitimacy.
In an effort to curb the PFI’s illegal activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs had banned the organisation and its affiliated entities under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) Tribunal in September 2020. The UAPA Tribunal upheld the Centre‘s decision to ban PFI and rejected the organisation’s claim that the government was targeting a particular community. The tribunal noted that the activities of the PFI and its affiliates were sowing the seeds of rebellion that were contrary to the social fabric of the country.
