ED raids PFI chairman, others in Kerala

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided the premises of PFI chairman O M Abdul Salam and its national secretary Nasaruddin Elamaram in Kerala as part of a money laundering case probe, official sources said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided the premises of PFI chairman O M Abdul Salam and its national secretary Nasaruddin Elamaram in Kerala as part of a money laundering case probe, official sources said. The searches are being conducted in Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram districts of the state, they said. The action is being carried out under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

Some more premises linked to the Kerala-based Popular Front of India (PFI) are understood to being searched but there was no confirmation. The central probe agency is investigating PFI's links on alleged charges of fuelling anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests in the country and other instances.

It had earlier recorded the statement of Salam, a senior assistant in the Kerala State Electricity Board. The PFI was formed in 2006 in Kerala as a successor to the National Democratic Front (NDF).

PFI and Salam have denied any wrongdoing in these instances in the past.