PFI's Secret Operations: From Gulf Fund Collection to Covert Arms Training

The banned Popular Front of India allegedly had over 13,000 active members in the Gulf tasked with funding collections through illicit means. The Enforcement Directorate claims these funds supported violent activities under the guise of social movements and that arms training was covertly conducted as Physical Education classes.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) maintained a network of over 13,000 active members in Singapore and Gulf countries such as Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. These members were reportedly responsible for collecting funds to support the organization's activities.

The ED revealed on Friday that PFI established District Executive Committees (DECs) specifically for the Non-Resident Muslim diaspora in the Gulf, assigning them financial targets in the crores. The funds collected abroad were allegedly funneled into India through concealed banking methods and underground 'hawala' channels to obscure their origins, ultimately financing the group's unlawful operations.

The agency suggested that PFI's declared mission differed vastly from its actual intentions, which allegedly included forming an Islamic movement through jihad in India, despite its public portrayal as a social movement. Moreover, the ED accused PFI of covertly conducting arms training under the guise of Physical Education classes, citing the 2013 Narath Arms Camp case in Kerala's Kannur District as a key example of these activities.

(With inputs from agencies.)