Enforcement Directorate Files Money Laundering Chargesheet In Hathras Case

Money laundering chargesheet in Hathras case: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has submitted a chargesheet against the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its students’ wing on money laundering charges, on Thursday. The chargesheet was filed for alleged conspiracy to incite violence and disturb harmony in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, after the death of a Dalit woman, following gangrape.

The chargesheet has been filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the gangrape case of the 19-year-old Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district. The woman was allegedly gangraped by four upper-caste men last September. She died at a hospital in New Delhi while undergoing treatment.

The Hindustan Times reports that members of PFI and its students' wing were arrested on October 5 last year by Mathura police, while on their way to Hathras.

The chargesheet has been accepted by a special court in Lucknow. ED, which is investigating the financial angle in the crime, said in a statement: “…probe has revealed that more than ₹100 crore have been deposited in the accounts of PFI over the years and a very large part of this money has been deposited in cash.”

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been probing the Popular Front of India (PFI) and ED recently started investigations into the Islamic organisations’ alleged role in “funding” anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests and the communal riots which took place in Delhi last year. PFI was formed in 2006, in Kerala and its headquarter is based in Delhi, since 2018.

Feature Image Credit: NDTV