The Chairman of Popular Front of India (PFI), O M A Salam, in a statement, has rejected the claims made by the Indian Enforcement Directorate against the organisation and its leaders in its official release on Friday.
The Enforcement Directorate in a release posted on the agency’s website on 13th May 2022 has made several serious allegations against the Popular Front of India and informs that it has filed a Supplementary Prosecution Complaint against the two leaders of the organization who had been recently arrested by the agency.
Popular Front said it has rejected all these allegations. “By linking totally unconnected incidents, the ED has been fabricating a story against Popular Front. The present press release is nothing but a rehash of the same story cooked up to harass the Popular Front, its leaders, and its members,” said the PFI Chairman.
In January, the ED conducted raids at the residences and offices of some of the members of the Popular Front in Kerala. “Nothing was found in the raids and the whole exercise was politically motivated and part of the witch-hunt launched against the organisation by the BJP government. Despite knowing that the PMLA case and all the allegations were fabricated, as a lawfully working organization, Popular Front and its members have been complying with all the investigations,” Salam said.
The PFI alleged that the subsequent arrests of its member, Abdul Razak BP and Kerala State Executive Member M K Ashraf are part of the ongoing harassment. “They were independent businessmen and committed no crimes other than being Muslims and cooperating with humanitarian activities of the Popular Front. The Munnar Villa Vista Project and Darbar Restaurant in UAE mentioned in the ED Press Release have nothing to do with Popular Front. They were legitimate business ventures. Under the guise of investigation, ED is targeting lawful Muslim businesses,” he maintained.—KMS
