New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has apprehended five members affiliated with the banned Islamic organization PFI (Popular Front of India). Positioned at various levels within the organization, these individuals were tasked with utilizing crores of rupees in foreign funding, received through Hawala channels, for anti-national activities. Their arrests stem from details uncovered during the raid on PFI locations in December 2020. All the accused held the authority to sign on PFI's bank accounts.
The arrested individuals include AS Ismail, a co-founder of the organization; Mohammed Shakif, the president of PFI's Karnataka unit; Anees Ahmed, the national secretary until 2020; Afsar Pasha, the national secretary at the time of the ban; and EM Abdul Rehman, the current national vice president, who also had associations with SIMI in the 70-80s. Abdul Rehman, the Vice President of the 'National Executive Council' of PFI, had visited Turkey and several African countries multiple times.
Anees Ahmed was responsible for fundraising for the organization, serving as the National Secretary and spokesperson. Afsar Pasha held the position of zonal president in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, as well as Secretary of the Karnataka Unit, and was implicated in the conspiracies surrounding the Mysore riots in 2009, resulting in his imprisonment during the 'Jail Bharo Campaign'. AS Ismail served as the President of the organization in North India, while Shafiq, an active member in Karnataka, was also part of the National Executive Council.
These individuals held signing authorities in various banks, such as Corporation Bank in Fraser Town, Bangalore; Punjab National Bank in Mylapore RH Road, Chennai; Corporation Bank in Fraser Town, Bangalore; and Syndicate Bank in Kozhikode for PFI's Kalka Ji, Delhi. The investigation has revealed the existence of thousands of active PFI members in Arab countries, contributing to the raised funds.
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