India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, MARCH 12 – The Delhi Police on Thursday arrested Delhi unit president of Popular Front of India (PFI) Parvez Ahmed and its secretary Mohammad Iliyas, for allegedly fuelling protests at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh. The police crackdown comes on the heels of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) acting against the organisation for alleged money laundering and financing anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests across the country.
The organisation, headquartered in Shaheen Bagh, has been accused by the Centre and the police of having financed the Shaheen Bagh protests, which have now entered their third month.
Earlier this month, the ED quizzed several PFI functionaries in New Delhi after the probe agency found ₹50 crore cash from unnamed sources, following which it also seized documents which point to Parvez Ahmed’s alleged involvement in financing the Shaheen Bagh protests, reports Livemint.
Protesting against the arrest, the PFI in a statement said, “While involved in preparations for a democratic protest PFI’s Delhi State President Parvez Ahmed, State Secretary Mohammed Ilyas, State office secretary Muqeet were taken to police custody. Earlier, another PFI member Danish was arrested on fabricated charges and a smear campaign is ongoing to defame Popular Front of India. In fact, the target is not merely a particular organisation, but all voices and endeavours opposed to RSS-BJP agenda of CAA-NPR-NRC and Delhi Pogrom.”
The ED had, as part of its probe, also quizzed the outfit’s office bearers, including Ahmed, PFI Delhi secretary Abdul Muqeet, PFI national secretary Anis Ahmed, RIF secretary Afsel Chandrankandy and PFI’s national headquarters accountant K P Jaseer.
The police had earlier arrested PFI member Mohammed Danish for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to incite communal riots. Police had told the court that the accused was to be confronted with incriminating materials and other people in the case.
