In a major crackdown, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) exposed strong links between the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and the terrorist organisation ISIS. The ED’s findings indicate that PFI cadres actively radicalised Indian youth, encouraging their involvement in ISIS and promoting jihad.
As per ED’s findings, PFI received substantial foreign funding, which was allegedly routed through donations and hawala transactions. About ₹62 crore was deposited into 29 bank accounts linked to the PFI between May 2009 and May 2022. Of this, a significant portion was deposited in cash.
This has raised further suspicion regarding the organisation’s financial dealings. The ED also discovered that PFI had a considerable number of active members in Gulf countries who facilitated the collection of funds for terrorist operations within India.
Following the ban on PFI, its political wing, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), became more active. The investigation implicated both PFI and SDPI in receiving funds from Gulf-based organisations, the Indian Fraternity Forum (IFF) and the Indian Social Forum (ISF), and funnelling these funds illegally into India. The ED’s findings strongly suggest that SDPI served as a front for PFI.
