Rs 56-crore properties of banned PFI attached

In a major anti-terror crackdown, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached 35 properties worth Rs 56 crore of banned radical outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The properties attached include 19 immovable properties worth Rs 35 crore and 16 immovable properties valued at Rs 21.13 crore, owned and controlled by PFI in the name of various trusts, sources said.

The ED had initiated investigation against the office-bearers, members and cadres of PFI under PMLA, 2002 on the basis of various FIRs registered by the NIA and other law enforcement agencies.

Probe revealed that the office-bearers were conspiring and raising/collecting funds from within India and abroad through banking channels, hawala, donations and other routes for committing and financing terrorist acts across India. Funds were raised by PFI in India and abroad by using unlawful means and were deposited in 29 bank accounts across the country located in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, J&K and Manipur.